Link Centre Dictionary

supererogatory

su·pe·re·rogatory

UK/suːpəɹɛˈɹɒɡətəɹi/ uncommon

adjective

1.

more than is needed, desired, or required

  • “trying to lose excess weight”
  • “found some extra change lying on the dresser”
  • “yet another book on heraldry might be thought redundant”
  • “skills made redundant by technological advance”
  • “sleeping in the spare room”
  • “supernumerary ornamentation”
  • “it was supererogatory of her to gloat”
  • “delete superfluous (or unnecessary) words”
  • “extra ribs as well as other supernumerary internal parts”
  • “surplus cheese distributed to the needy”

Origin

From Latin superērogātōrius (“supererogatory”), from superērogātiō (“payment in addition”), from superērogō (“pay out over and above”), from super (“above”) + ērogō (“pay out, expend”); from ex (“out of, from”) + rogō (“ask; request”).

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.