Etymology From Middle English exces (“excess, ecstasy”), from Old French exces, from Latin excessus (“a going out, loss of self-possession”), from excedere, excessum (“to go out, go beyond”). See exceed.
1
The state of surpassing or going beyond a limit; the state of being beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; more than what is usual or proper.
The excess of heavy water was given away to the neighbouring country.
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet, […] Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
2 more examples
That kills me with excess of grief, this with excess of joy.c. 1690, William Walsh, "Jealosy", in The Poetical Works of William Walsh (1797), page 19 (Google preview)
[...] after the original Victorian station was demolished and then entombed in concrete in the 1960s, Birmingham New Street became a byword for the worst excesses of the much-loathed Brutalist architecture so widely used to reconstruct inner-city post-war Britain.2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54:
2
The degree or amount by which one thing or number exceeds another; remainder.
The difference between two numbers is the excess of one over the other.
3
An act of eating or drinking more than enough.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:18:
Fair Angel, thy desire . . . . . . leads to no excess That reaches blame1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
4
Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences Spherical excess, the amount by which the sum of the three angles of a spherical triangle exceeds two right angles. The spherical excess is proportional to the area of the triangle.
5
Business, InsuranceUK A condition on an insurance policy by which the insured pays for a part of the claim.
Etymology From Middle English exces (“excess, ecstasy”), from Old French exces, from Latin excessus (“a going out, loss of self-possession”), from excedere, excessum (“to go out, go beyond”). See exceed.
Etymology From Middle English exces (“excess, ecstasy”), from Old French exces, from Latin excessus (“a going out, loss of self-possession”), from excedere, excessum (“to go out, go beyond”). See exceed.
1
US To declare (an employee) surplus to requirements, such that he or she might not be given work.
In 2006, I was excessed because my program had to make a few cuts and a new, inexperienced supervisor decided that he couldn’t handle a knowledgeable older teacher so he removed me.2008 May 3, “When New York Teachers Don’t Teach”, in New York Times: