supernumerary

English

Etymology

From the Late Latin supernumerarius (“excessively high in number”), from super (“above; beyond”) + numerum, accusative of numerus (“number”).

Noun

supernumerary (plural supernumeraries)

1. A civil designation for somebody who works in a group, association or public office, without forming part of the regular staff; those distinguished from numerary. (For example, supernumerary judges are those who help the regular judges when there is a surplus amount of work.)
2. An extra or walk-on in a film or play; spear-carrier.

Adjective

supernumerary (not comparable)

1. Extra; beyond the standard or prescribed amount.
   • 1948: Aldous Huxley, Ape and Essence, page 74: 1949 “Chatto & Windus” edition; 1972 “Harper & Row” edition

     Over close-ups of little faces with hare lips, little trunks with stumps instead of legs and arms, little hands with clusters of supernumerary fingers, little bodies adorned with a double row of nipples, we hear the voice of the Narrator.

2. Greater in number than.
3. Beyond what is necessary.

Quotations

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: surnuméraire (fr), figurant (fr) m.

Romanian: supranumerar (ro) Serbian: prekobrojan

External links

• supernumerary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• supernumerary in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• supernumerary at OneLook Dictionary Search