superfluity

noun

Etymology: From superflu(ous) + -ity, Old French superfluite, from Medieval Latin superfluitas, from Latin superfluus.

1. The quality or state of being superfluous; overflowingness.

   “[S]he could not but contrast the splendour of the Polish retinues and their plumages and draperies, with the strait-buttoned Prussian dignitaries, all in mere soldier uniform, succinct 'blue coat, white linen gaiters,' and no superfluity even in the epaulettes and red facings.”

   “Each stores has its own storekeeper, a clerk who specializes in organizing his department so that there is not a superfluity of one article and a scarcity of another.”

2. Something superfluous, as a luxury.

   “As they had almost all the conveniencies of life within themselves, they seldom visited towns or cities in search of superfluity.”

   “I really doubt whether there be such a thing as a heart in the world: perhaps, after all, it is only an elegant superfluity kept for the use of poets. Certainly we have no use for it here.”

3. Collective noun for a group of nuns.

   “These probably mark the dwelling of a colony, or to speak more precisely, according to Dame Juliana Berners, a superfluity of nuns from Godstow, which nunnery had a cell there, and was patron of the living.”

   “Alice put Anna back on the shelf and turned up the volume on the TV, where a local news reporter was imparting a salutary tale of woe involving a superfluity of nuns who'd got into a scrape at a crab festival.”