A surfeit is far more of something than is good for you. A surfeit of information, died of a surfeit, a surfeit of choice.
It always implies harm from the excess, which is what separates it from an abundance. King John is said to have died of a surfeit of peaches and new cider, and the phrase has stuck to the word ever since.
1nounsurfeitFar more of something than is good for you.
“A surfeit of chocolate at Easter left the children feeling sick.”
surfeit is an excess.
Old French sorfait means excess, from sur, over, plus faire, to do.
Old French
sorfet
Anglo-Norman
surfet
Middle English
surfeite
English, today
surfeit
Built from
From Middle English surfeite, surfet, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman surfet, surfeit and Old French sorfet, sorfait, past participle of surfaire (“to augment, exaggerate, exceed”), from sur- (“over”) + faire (“to do”). The adjective is derived from the noun.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA