excess. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

excess

SYLLABICATION:	ex·cess
PRONUNCIATION:	k-ss, kss
NOUN:	1. The state of exceeding what is normal or sufficient: rains that filled the reservoirs to excess. 2. An amount or quantity beyond what is normal or sufficient; a surplus. 3. The amount or degree by which one quantity exceeds another: Profit is the excess of sales over costs. 4. Intemperance; overindulgence: drank to excess. 5. A behavior or an action that exceeds proper or lawful bounds: tried to avoid engaging in emotional excesses such as hysteria and fits of temper.
ADJECTIVE:	Being more than is usual, required, or permitted: skimming off the excess fat. See synonyms at superfluous.
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: ex·cessed, ex·cess·ing, ex·cess·es To eliminate the job or position of.
IDIOM:	in excess of Greater than; more than: unit sales in excess of 20 million.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English, from Old French, from Latin excessus, past participle of excdere, to exceed. See exceed.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.