- 1
A surfeit is too much of something — more than you need, and enough that it becomes a problem. "A surfeit of information," "a surfeit of choice," "a surfeit of talented young players." The key is that the extra is not welcome. If you say there is a surfeit of good cheap restaurants near your flat, you have used the word oddly, because good things in the phrase still get treated as a burden: too many, too much to handle. It is a formal, written word — you meet it in newspapers, essays and older novels, and almost never in speech. In conversation people say "way too much" or "more than enough." The word began with the stomach, and it kept that flavour. Old writing uses surfeit for the sick, heavy feeling of eating far too much; there is a famous story that a king died "of a surfeit of lampreys," meaning he ate himself to death on eels. Even now, when you write "a surfeit of sweet food," a reader half-feels that queasiness. That is why the word is a good deal stronger than "a lot of." It also exists as a verb, usually as "be surfeited with something" — to have had so much of it that you cannot bear any more. That use is old-fashioned and mainly literary. The usual pattern by far is the noun with of: a surfeit of ___.
過量、過剩（多到令人吃不消，帶有「膩了、撐了」的感覺）
組成Came into Middle English from Old French sorfait, built from sur- (over, above) + faire (to do). Literally "over-done" — doing something beyond the proper limit.
原始詞典資料14 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
surfeitadj/ˈsɜː.fɪt/
- 1
archaicSated; surfeited; filled.
- If it proceed from the third occaſion, which is ſurfeit of Meats and Drinks, either natural or unnatural, then the ſigns are theſe ; […]
- “We are surfeit with sons of vassals of the king,” the merchant said.
surfeitnoun/ˈsɜː.fɪt/
- 1
An excessive amount of something.
- A surfeit of wheat is driving down the price.
- With what could be a surfeit of candour, [Mike] Skinner has described DJing as more creative than playing his own songs, because, to paraphrase, of the "stress" and "creativity" of not knowing what he'll be doing in three minutes' time.
- 2
Overindulgence in either food or drink; overeating.
- I feel too much thy blessing: make it [this excess]less, For fear I surfeit! Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made.
- He insisted on stopping at a charmingly romantic cabman's shelter somewhere, at five o'clock this morning, and we had a surfeit of hot cocoa and currant buns.
- 3
A sickness or condition caused by overindulgence.
- King Henry I is said to have died of a surfeit of lampreys.
- the Leaves they do eat to prevent surfeit and other diseases that are incident to those that heat their blood by travels
- 4
Disgust caused by excess; satiety.
- Now for ſimilitudes in certain Printed diſcourſes, I thinke all Herberiſts, all ſtories of beaſts, foules, and fiſhes, are rifled vp, that they may come in multitudes to vvait vpon any of our conceits, which certainly is as abſurd a ſurfet to the eares as is poſsible.
- Matter and argument have been supplied abundantly, and even to surfeit.
- 5
A group of skunks.
surfeitverb/ˈsɜː.fɪt/
- 1
To fill (something) to excess.
- 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;
- 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).
- She surfeited her children on sweets.
- […] 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.
- […] that proportion of meat surfetteth, and surchargeth the stomacks of some, which is not enough to satisfie the hunger of others,
- […] 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.
- 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.
- […] 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.
- […] his appetite for vulgar praise had not yet been surfeited;
- 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).
- 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.
- Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus.
- 7
To indulge (in something) to excess.
- 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.
- […] 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.
- […] they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing.
- I must confesse at my first reading of them [the miracles of Hildegard of Bingen], my belief digested some, but surfeted on the rest:
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。