English
excessive
Excessive comes from Latin excēdō ‘surpass’, and goes back to cēdō ‘withdraw’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘withdraw’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcēdō‘surpass’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500excessivus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400excessif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excessive
- Englishearliest quotation 1834same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō‘withdraw’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcēdō‘surpass’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500excessivus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400excessif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500excessive
- Englishearliest quotation 1834same form
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “You can throw off your cumbersome disguise here," said…”
Formed from excess + -ive
Latin cēdō ‘withdraw’
Latin excēdō ‘to go out, go beyond’
Latin excessus ‘a going out, loss of self-possession’
Old French exces
Middle English exces ‘excess, ecstasy’
English excess
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *kezdō
successor, succession, procession, successive, inaccessible, recessive, precession, 10 more
through Latin cēdō ‘withdraw’
process, success, necessary, procedure, succeed, cease, precedent, accessible, predecessor, concede, recession, recess, concession, accession, cessation, secession, cede, intercession, 29 more
through Latin excēdō ‘surpass’
Today it means
adj Exceeding the usual bounds of something; too much (of amount); extravagant; immoderate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin cēdō / excessive