surplus

[sur-pluhs, -pluhs]

noun

1. something that remains above what is used or needed.

   Synonyms: superabundance

2. an amount, quantity, etc., greater than needed.

3. agricultural produce or a quantity of food grown by a nation or area in excess of its needs, especially such a quantity of food purchased and stored by a governmental program of guaranteeing farmers a specific price for certain crops.

4. Accounting.

   1. the excess of assets over liabilities accumulated throughout the existence of a business, excepting assets against which stock certificates have been issued; excess of net worth over capital-stock value.

   2. an amount of assets in excess of what is requisite to meet liabilities.

adjective

1. being a surplus; being in excess of what is required.

   surplus wheat.

verb (used with object)

surplussed, surplused , surplussing, surplusing .

1. to treat as surplus; sell off; retire.

   The government surplussed some of its desert lands.

surplus

/ ˈsɜːpləs /

noun

1. a quantity or amount in excess of what is required

2. accounting

   1. an excess of total assets over total liabilities

   2. an excess of actual net assets over the nominal value of capital stock

   3. an excess of revenues over expenditures during a certain period of time

3. economics

   1. an excess of government revenues over expenditures during a certain financial year

   2. an excess of receipts over payments on the balance of payments

adjective

1. being in excess; extra

surplus

1. An unsold quantity of a good resulting from a lack of equilibrium in a market. For example, if a price is artificially high, sellers will bring more goods to the market than buyers will be willing to buy. (Compare shortage.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of surplus¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French surplus, s(o)urplus, from Medieval Latin superplūs, equivalent to super- preposition and prefix + plūs neuter noun; super-, plus

Word History and Origins

Origin of surplus¹

C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin superplūs, from Latin _super- + plūs more

Synonym Study

See remainder.

Example Sentences

Recently, IEA raised its estimates for a market surplus, and U.S.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

NASA’s administrator at the time responded that the cuts would make JPL “surplus to our needs.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Through wielding his famous chainsaw External link, he has succeeded in streamlining the country’s bloated government bureaucracy and producing the country’s first budget surplus in over a decade.

Read more on Barron's

Gen Z and millennial workers would see their spending gap become a financial surplus, while Gen X and baby-boomer workers would see their projected spending gaps reduced significantly, the firm said.

Read more on MarketWatch

And the financial incentive for people who feed their surplus solar electricity into the grid is being reduced to almost nothing.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• excess 
• leftover 
• unused