Surfeit

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I just found this word... the dictionary says it means to overindulge with excessive eating or drinking, or any other excess.
As I had never seen it before, I suppose it's not very common (some dictionaries even have a note about it's being an archaic word), but I would like to have some examples to use it correctly, and synonyms of it if possible.


Can I say things like:

· My mother surfeited me with home-made food during the weekend.
· I surfeited on wine last night and now my head aches.
· Juan died after a whole life of surfeit.
· María has a new boyfriend and feels surfeited by love.



Thank you!

[Rusty]

Although a search on the internet returns oodles of hits, I've never heard the noun nor the verb used. This is a very old word, borrowed from French in the 1300's.

Most of the fifty or so hits I looked at were dictionary sites, word sites, or quotations from Shakespeare.

[pjt33]

I've never heard it as a verb. Henry I of England died of a surfeit of lampreys.

[JPablo]

Well... with 3 million hits in google, doesn't seem to me that odd. (It is a literary word, more than a casual, run-of-the-mill, common word.)

You have some examples of usage here,
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/surfeit

And Oxford bilingual gives,
surfeit2 vt (liter) to surfeit oneself WITH/ON sth hartarse DE or (Esp tb) A algo; they were surfeited with food se hartaron de comida, estaban ahítos (de comida) (liter)

As well as the noun usages,
surfeit1 n (liter) a surfeit OF sth un exceso or (liter) una plétora DE algo; there is a surfeit of exhibitions this autumn este otoño hay una plétora de exposiciones (liter)

[chileno]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

I just found this word... the dictionary says it means to overindulge with excessive eating or drinking, or any other excess.
As I had never seen it before, I suppose it's not very common (some dictionaries even have a note about it's being an archaic word), but I would like to have some examples to use it correctly, and synonyms of it if possible.


Can I say things like:

· My mother surfeited me with home-made food during the weekend.
· I surfeited on wine last night and now my head aches.
· Juan died after a whole life of surfeit.
· María has a new boyfriend and feels surfeited by love.



Thank you!

Here is a link to Merriam-Webster.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surfeit

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by JPablo

Well... with 3 million hits in google, doesn't seem to me that odd.

Just 620 hits in Google, including "buy surfeit of, collectibles, books ..." or "surfeit-verdura ... erotica" .

Many uses as "excess" or superávit:

Democratic Deficit or Surfeit?

A Surfeit of Passion

A surfeit of children in Europe?

in a way looking a bit pompous from here ...

A surfeit of surreality

A Surfeit of Parsnips.

and finally 427 results for "a surfait of lampreys" including uses as "a bunch of lawyers" or regarding suspicious deaths besides dozens of references to the monogamous king's kick of the royal bucket.

[JPablo]

Mmm... when I do a search in Google it gives me "about 3,030,000 results" which seems quite a surfeit of "surfeits".

I thought that "google no hay más que uno... y a ti te encontré en la calle..."

Should I start a question/thread on the 'technical things' to see how come these differences?

"Surfait" gives me 518,000 hits...

[LibraryLady]

Originally Posted by JPablo

Well... with 3 million hits in google, doesn't seem to me that odd. (It is a literary word, more than a casual, run-of-the-mill, common word.)

I agree. I've mostly come across the word in literature but not in spoken conversation. I've noticed it used more as a noun than a verb.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by JPablo

Mmm... when I do a search in Google it gives me "about 3,030,000 results" which seems quite a surfeit of "surfeits".

I thought that "google no hay más que uno... y a ti te encontré en la calle..."

Should I start a question/thread on the 'technical things' to see how come these differences?

"Surfait" gives me 518,000 hits...

It's simple. Navigate to the result number 1000 (page 10, 50 or 100, depending on your personal settings) and tell me its url.

If there is no #1000 excluding duplicates, a thread on this sort of 'technical things' is a must within a language forum.

[JPablo]

@LibraryLady, thank you for your input!

@AlecCowan,
Oh, I get it. Thank you, Alec.
I got to page 88 on my search (I.e., 880 actual instances).

It's still quite a surfeit of the word... one could keep reading about it to sufeit oneself no end...

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thanks to all... y gracias por los links.

Originally Posted by Rusty

Although a search on the internet returns oodles of hits, I've never heard the noun nor the verb used. This is a very old word, borrowed from French in the 1300's.

Most of the fifty or so hits I looked at were dictionary sites, word sites, or quotations from Shakespeare.

Oh, of course! I never made the connection with "surfaire"/"surfait".
And thank you too! That's what I had found too and also wanted to know if some English native speaker would feel like using it in any situation.

Originally Posted by pjt33

I've never heard it as a verb. Henry I of England died of a surfeit of lampreys.

¿Se comen?

[poli]

Suffice is the much- more common word. A fairly common expression is:
suffice to say which means ni hay que decirlo.

It can be used as a verb as well. Example: We are having a party. Do you
think five bags of potato chips will suffice?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Poli: But isn't "suffice" just to be enough? It seems to me that "surfeit" is a lot more than enough, and rather too much of something. (?)

[poli]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

@Poli: But isn't "suffice" just to be enough? It seems to me that "surfeit" is a lot more than enough, and rather too much of something. (?)

Yes, that's true. Instead of surfeit you may want to surplus as a noun or adjective. That way everyone will understand you.

[CrOtALiTo]

I don't understand.

What does surfeit means?

I have made a search about it, but only I found this meaning.

ahitaADJsurfeitedADJ
ahitoADJsurfeitedADJ
empañarseV [conjugate]to be surfeited withV
empalagarseV [conjugate]to get surfeitedV

That's correct form?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo

I don't understand.

What does surfeit means?

It means exceso, plétora.

It used to be a verb as well: Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, opening lines:

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die -

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Poli: Thanks!