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surfeit

 - 7 dictionary results

sur⋅feit

[sur-fit]
–noun
1. excess; an excessive amount: a surfeit of speechmaking.
2. excess or overindulgence in eating or drinking.
3. an uncomfortably full or crapulous feeling due to excessive eating or drinking.
4. general disgust caused by excess or satiety.
–verb (used with object)
5. to bring to a state of surfeit by excess of food or drink.
6. to supply with anything to excess or satiety; satiate.
–verb (used without object)
7. to eat or drink to excess.
8. to suffer from the effects of overindulgence in eating or drinking.
9. to indulge to excess in anything.

Origin:
1250–1300; (n.) ME sorfete, surfait < MF surfait, surfet (n. use of ptp. of surfaire to overdo), equiv. to sur- sur- 1 + fait < L factus, ptp. of facere to do (see fact ); (v.) sorfeten, deriv. of the n.


1. superabundance, superfluity. 5, 6. stuff, gorge. 6. fill.


1. lack.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To surfeit
sur·feit   (sûr'fĭt)   
v.   sur·feit·ed, sur·feit·ing, sur·feits

v.   tr.
To feed or supply to excess, satiety, or disgust.
v.   intr. Archaic
To overindulge.
n.  
    1. Overindulgence in food or drink.

    2. The result of such overindulgence; satiety or disgust.

  1. An excessive amount.


[Middle English surfeten, from surfait, excess, from Old French, from past participle of surfaire, to overdo : sur-, sur- + faire, to do (from Latin facere; see dhē- in Indo-European roots).]
sur'feit·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Main Entry:  surfeit1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  overabundance; excess
Etymology:  Latin super- + facere 'to do, act'
Main Entry:  surfeit2
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  an excessive indulgence, esp. in food or drink; also, the excessive amount eaten
Etymology:  Latin super- + facere 'to do, act'
Main Entry:  surfeit3
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a disgust with excess; nausea
Etymology:  Latin super- + facere 'to do, act'
Main Entry:  surfeit
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to indulge the appetite or senses
Etymology:  Latin super- + facere 'to do, act'
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Word Origin & History

surfeit  (n.)
c.1300, from O.Fr. surfet "excess," noun use of pp. of surfaire "overdo," from sur- "over" + faire "do," from L. facere "to make" (see factitious). The verb is first recorded 1393.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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