supererogate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin supererogare. See supererogation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌs(j)uːpəɹˈɛɹəɡeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsupəɹˈɛɹəˌɡeɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Adjective

supererogate (comparative more supererogate, superlative most supererogate)

1. (rare) Supererogatory.

Verb

supererogate (third-person singular simple present supererogates, present participle supererogating, simple past and past participle supererogated)

1. (intransitive, theology, Catholicism) To do more than God commands.
   • The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter XVI, article iv:

     They who, in their obedience, attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, […]

   • 1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter I, in Shrewsbury:

     Were this all, therefore, or my task confined to such a relation, I should supererogate indeed in making this appearance.

2. (intransitive, obsolete, with for) To make up with excess for the lack prepositioned by for.
3. (intransitive, obsolete, with of, with) To supererogate (in any sense) in the service of the prepositional argument.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To give that earned through supererogation to another.
5. (transitive, obsolete, rare) As in other senses but taking as an object the excess deeds or works.
6. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To deserve or more than deserve.
7. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To pay or expend extra.

Related terms

• supererogation
• supererogatorily
• supererogatory

References

• “supererogate”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Latin

Verb

superērogāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of superērogō