English

Adjective

supererogatory ‎(comparative more supererogatory, superlative most supererogatory)

1. Pertaining to supererogation; doing more than is required, especially with reference to good works in Roman Catholicism
   • 1886, Henry James, The Bostonians.

     They passed into the ancient shipyard which lay beyond, and which was now a mere vague, grass-grown approach to the waterside, bestrewn with a few remnants of supererogatory timber.

   • 1988, Anthony Burgess, Any Old Iron

     ‘In now you come,’ she ordered, ‘and we make love.’ That seemed supererogatory to David Jones, who, under the gaze of the painted deer, got in there and did as he was told.

   • 2002,David Heyd: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

     It is, for example, not clear whether “love thy enemy” is a precept or a supererogatory counsel.

Derived terms

• supererogatorily

Related terms

• supererogate
• supererogation

Translations