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Origin and history of excess

excess(n.)

"a going beyond ordinary, necessary, or proper limits; superfluity; undue indulgence of appetite, want of restraint in gratifying the desires; the amount by which one number or quantity exceeds another," late 14c., from Old French exces (14c.) "excess, extravagance, outrage," from Latin excessus "departure, a going beyond the bounds of reason or beyond the subject," from stem of excedere "to depart, go beyond," from ex "out" (see ex-) + cedere "to go, yield" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). As an adjective, "beyond what is necessary, proper, or right," from late 15c.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to excess

ex-

word-forming element, in English meaning usually "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, from within; from which time, since; according to; in regard to," from PIE *eghs "out" (source also of Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek. PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-. Often reduced to e- before -b-, -d-, -g-, consonantal -i-, -l-, -m-, -n-, -v- (as in elude, emerge, evaporate, etc.).

*ked-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, yield."

It might form all or part of: abscess; accede; access; ancestor; antecede; antecedent; cease; cede; cession; concede; decease; exceed; excess; incessant; intercede; necessary; precede; predecessor; proceed; recede; recess; recession; secede; secession; succeed; success.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit sedhati "to drive, chase away;" Avestan apa-had- "turn aside, step aside;" Latin cedere "to yield, give place; to give up some right or property," originally "to go from, proceed, leave;" Old Church Slavonic chodu "a walking, going," choditi "to go."

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    Trends of excess

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    surfeit
    early 14c., surfet, "excess quantity;" late 14c., "immoderate behavior, unhealthy overindulgence," especially in food and drink, "gluttony" (the usual later sense), from Old French sorfet "excess; arrogance" (Modern French surfait). This is a noun use of the past participle of su
    extra
    1650s as a stand-alone adjective; also used as an adverb and noun in 17c. (see extra-); modern usages — including sense of "minor performer in a play" (1777) and "special edition of a newspaper" (1793) — probably all are from shortenings of extraordinary, which in 18c. was used e
    redundant
    "superfluous, exceeding what is natural or necessary," c. 1600, from Latin redundantem (nominative redundans), present participle of redundare, literally "overflow, pour over; be over-full;" figuratively "be in excess," from re- "again" (see re-) + undare "rise in waves," from un
    polyphagia
    1690s, "eating to excess," medical Latin, from Greek polyphagia "excess in eating," from polyphagos "eating to excess," from...
    intemperance
    early 15c., "lack of restraint, excess," also of weather, "inclemency, severity," from Old French intemperance (14c.) and...directly from Latin intemperantia "intemperateness, immoderation, excess" (as in intemperantia vini "immoderate use of wine...
    glutton
    "one who eats and drinks to excess," early 13c., from Old French gloton "glutton;" also "scoundrel," a general term of abuse...General sense in reference to one who indulges in anything to excess is from 1704....
    luxury
    pleasure," from Old French luxurie "debauchery, dissoluteness, lust" (12c., Modern French luxure), from Latin luxuria "excess..., extravagant living, profusion; delicacy" (source also of Spanish lujuria, Italian lussuria), from luxus "excess, extravagance...
    indulgence
    mid-14c., in the Church sense, "a freeing from temporal punishment for sin, remission from punishment for sin that remains due after absolution," from Old French indulgence or directly from Latin indulgentia "complaisance, a yielding; fondness, tenderness, affection; remission,"
    fullness
    mid-14c., "state of being sated or satisfied; wholeness, totality, completion" (translating Latin saturitas, plenitudo), from full (adj.) + -ness. There might have been an Old English *fulnes but it has not survived in texts. Earlier was fullhead (c. 1300), and Middle English als
    supernumerary
    "exceeding a stated or prescribed number," c. 1600, from Late Latin supernumarius "excess, counted in over" (of soldiers added to a full legion), from Latin super numerum "beyond the number," from super "beyond, over" (see super-) + numerum, accusative of numerus "number" (see nu

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