SUPERNUMERARY


Meaning of SUPERNUMERARY in English

I. |süpə(r)|n(y)üməˌrerē, -ˌreri adjective

Etymology: Late Latin supernumerarius, from Latin super- + numerus number + -arius -ary

1. : exceeding the usual, stated, or prescribed number

a supernumerary tooth

extra ribs, as well as other supernumerary internal parts — Science News Letter

specifically : not enumerated among the regular components of a group and especially of a military organization or staff or of the line elements of a military organization

offered the supernumerary position of inspector general — J.S.Roucek

2. : exceeding what is necessary, required, or desired : superfluous

the redundant subheading and supernumerary asterisk — Punch

3. : being the more numerous

in any population with an unbalanced sex composition … a larger number of members of the supernumerary sex remains in this group — William & Mary Quarterly

II. noun

( plural supernumeraries )

1. : a supernumerary person or thing: as

a. : a person employed not for regular service but for use in case of need

b. : an individual in excess of the number authorized for a given military or naval unit

carried about two thousand men, including supernumeraries on a training course for sea experience — Stanley Rogers

c. : a person serving no apparent function

reducing them both to the role of irrelevant supernumeraries — J.C. Powys

d. : an inert added member of a chromosome set

2. : an actor employed to play a walk-on (as in a mob scene or spectacle)

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.