supererogation

British  

/ ˌsuːpərˌɛrəˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the performance of work in excess of that required

2. RC Church supererogatory prayers, devotions, etc

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Explanation

Supererogation is a fancy way of saying "doing more than you're expected or obligated to." If your school requires that all students perform ten hours of community service, but you volunteer at the soup kitchen for twenty hours, that's supererogation. The Late Latin supererogatio means "a payment in addition," from super, "above or over" and erogare, "pay out." In English, this word was originally used in a religious context, for good works that go beyond what God requires. Today, supererogation typically describes an ethical or religious decision to act beyond what's required for being a good person: "Donating twenty percent of their income to charity is an act of supererogation."

Example Sentences

For any organization to have notified him of his nomination would have been supererogation.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is such palpable nonsense that it would be a work of supererogation to prove its absurdity.

From Morals and the Evolution of Man by Nordau, Max Simon

Thus, discord differs from disagreement about matters of supererogation.

From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Callan, Charles Jerome

To attempt a sketch of the talents, genius, and virtues of Dr. Chalmers, would be a work of supererogation.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Stanton, Henry B.

It were no less than supererogation to adduce evidences of the romantic spirit of the age of Shakespeare.

From A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism by Spingarn, Joel Elias

Related Words

• exuberance
• glut
• overkill
• surplus
• waste