Word: surfeit Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English surfeite, surfet, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman surfet, surfeit and Old French sorfet, sorfait, past participle of surfaire (“to augment, exaggerate, exceed”), from sur- (“over”) + faire (“to do”). The adjective is derived from the noun. Pronunciation: /ˈsɜː.fɪt/, /ˈsɝː.fɪt/ 1. To fill (something) to excess. Labels: transitive Example: You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, That hath to instrument this lower world And what is in’t,—the never-surfeited sea Hath caused to belch up you; Example: If this surfeited sponge of speculation, this crammed commercial cormorant, wanted more than that for his daughter, why could he not say so without asking disgusting questions such as these […]? 2. To feed (someone) to excess (on, upon or with something). Labels: transitive Example: She surfeited her children on sweets. Example: […] ev’n the wholsomest Meats may be surfeited on, and there is nothing more unhealthy, than to feed very well, and do but very little Exercise. 3. To make (someone) sick as a result of overconsumption. Labels: transitive Example: […] that proportion of meat surfetteth, and surchargeth the stomacks of some, which is not enough to satisfie the hunger of others, Example: […] I imagine him poisoned by his wines, or surfeited by a favourite dish; 4. To supply (someone) with something to excess; to disgust (someone) through overabundance. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: 1697, Aphra Behn, “On an ungrateful and undeserving Mistress, whom he cou’d not help Loving” in Poems upon Several Occasions, London: Francis Saunders, p. 50, While some glad Rival in her Arms did lye, Glutted with Love and surfeited with Joy. Example: […] he shan’t shut me up in this dismal castle, and nauseate me with his surfeiting fondness: 5. To satisfy (someone's appetite) to excess. Labels: figuratively, sometimes, transitive Example: […] his appetite for vulgar praise had not yet been surfeited; Example: Every one has had the experience of being served with more food than can be eaten with relish and without waste. The effect is to surfeit the appetite and to limit the variety which a patron may have, 6. To overeat or feed to excess (on or upon something). Labels: intransitive, reflexive Example: And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. Example: Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus. 7. To indulge (in something) to excess. Labels: figuratively, intransitive, reflexive Example: After surfeiting itself with the Feast here provided for it, the Eye, by using a little Exercise in travelling about the Country, grows hungry again, and returns to the Entertainment with fresh Appetite. Example: […] a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar. 8. To become sick from overindulgence. Labels: figuratively, intransitive, reflexive, sometimes Example: […] they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing. Example: I must confesse at my first reading of them [the miracles of Hildegard of Bingen], my belief digested some, but surfeted on the rest: