Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Excess

Excess , noun

[Old English exces, excess, ecstasy, Latin excessus a going out, loss of self-possession, from excedere, excessum, to go out, go beyond: compare French excès. See Exceed.]

1.
The state of surpassing or going beyond limits; the being of a measure beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; that which exceeds what is usual or proper; immoderateness; superfluity; superabundance; extravagance; as, an excess of provisions or of light.
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet,... Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. — Shakespeare
That kills me with excess of grief, this with excess of joy. — Walsh
2.
An undue indulgence of the appetite; transgression of proper moderation in natural gratifications; intemperance; dissipation.
Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. — Eph. v. 18
Thy desire... leads to no excess That reaches blame. — Milton
3.
The degree or amount by which one thing or number exceeds another; remainder; as, the difference between two numbers is the excess of one over the other.
Collocations (1)
Spherical excess (Geometry) , the amount by which the sum of the three angles of a spherical triangle exceeds two right angles. The spherical excess is proportional to the area of the triangle.