# supernumerary

Pronunciation: US say "soo-per-NOO-muh-rair-ee" /ˌsupɚˈn(j)uməˌɹɛɹi/; UK say "soo-puh-NYOO-muh-ruh-ree" /ˌsuːpəˈnjuːm(ə)ɹ(ə)ɹi/

## Adjective

1. More than the usual, required or set number or amount; extra, and sometimes therefore unnecessary.
   - Simple: Extra, more than the usual or needed number.
   - _The budget listed three supernumerary positions that the department could eliminate._
   - _Besides its regular crew of twelve, the cargo ship carried two supernumerary passengers._
2. Of an organ or structure: present in addition to the number normally found.
   - Simple: Extra, more than the usual number of a body part, such as a finger or a tooth.
   - _The X-ray revealed a supernumerary rib near the base of the neck._
   - _Surgeons removed the supernumerary nipple during a routine procedure._

## Noun

3. A person who works in a group, association, or office without belonging to the regular staff.
   - Simple: A person who works with a group but is not part of the regular staff.
   - _During the busy summer, the embassy hired a supernumerary to help process visa applications._
   - _As a supernumerary, she attended meetings but held no permanent appointment._
4. An extra or walk-on performer, often non-speaking, who appears in a film or stage play.
   - Simple: An actor with a small, usually silent part in a film or play.
   - _The opera house needed forty supernumeraries to fill the stage for the coronation scene._
   - _As a supernumerary, he carried a spear across the stage without a single line._
5. An item that exceeds the prescribed or standard amount or number.
   - Simple: An extra thing beyond the usual or needed number.
   - _Through the spray of the waterfall, we could make out the bright main arc and two pale supernumeraries beneath it._
   - _Unlike the standard chromosomes, the supernumerary in these plants was not needed for normal growth._
6. A lay member of Opus Dei, the Roman Catholic institution, who is free to marry and usually lives an ordinary family life in their own home.
   - Simple: A member of Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic group, who is free to marry and usually lives an ordinary family life.
   - _He became a supernumerary of Opus Dei in his thirties while continuing to work as an engineer and raise his family._
   - _A supernumerary commits to the spirituality of Opus Dei without taking religious vows._

## Other meanings

- (noun) An animal that has not formed a pair bond and so remains single.

## Origin

From Late Latin supernumerarius, meaning "an extra soldier added to a legion," formed from super ("above, beyond") plus numerus ("number, quantity") and the adjective-forming suffix -ārius.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/supernumerary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).