overpayn.
/ˈəʊvəˌpeɪ/, U.S. /ˈoʊvərˌpeɪ/ Money which is paid or demanded in excess of what is due or expected; overpayment.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > according to amount
pittance1611
half-pay1664
long shilling1764
overpay1765
living wage1817
subsistence wage1831
existence wage1893
social wage1925
1765 C. Smart Hymns xii, in tr. Psalms David 168 Those that in by-places lurk, Invite with overpay to work.
1816 J. Bentham Introductory View 21 in Extract Constit. Code: Official Aptitude Maximized Supposing, indeed, the over-pay derived from crime—obtained, for example, by false pretences.
a1871 A. Cary in A. Cary & P. Cary Poet. Wks. (1877) 179/1 Asking overpay When nothing has been earned.
1909 E. Banks Myst. Frances Farrington 179 The five dollar bill was excellent overpay for so short a trip.
1918 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 28 419 To interpret it as a clear case of overpay.
1993 Newsweek 6 Sept. 25/2 To say no to the physician, hospital and medical-supply lobbies by reducing their levels of overpay.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
overpayv.
/ˌəʊvəˈpeɪ/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈpeɪ/ 1.
a. transitive. To pay or recompense (a person, formerly also a service, etc.) beyond what is due, deserved, or expected; (figurative) to do more than compensate.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > paying (money) for labour or service > pay (a person) for labour or service [verb (transitive)] > underpay or overpay
overpay1590
under-pay1861
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > paying (money) for labour or service > pay (a person) for labour or service [verb (transitive)] > pay for (work) > more than is due
overpay1590
1590 T. Digges Let. 2 May in Dict. National Biogr. (1888) XV. 72/1 Others by whom her majesty has been damaged are fully paid or overpaid, whereas I, that never increased her charge one penny,..am yet unsatisfied by 1,000l.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. iv. 10 Your very goodnesse, and your company, Ore-payes all I can do. View more context for this quotation
a1652 R. Brome Court Begger v. ii. sig. S5, in Five New Playes (1653) You overpaid me for all my former services, For which I justly thought I ought you this.
1709 M. Prior Henry & Emma 8 And with one Heav'nly Smile o'erpay his Pains.
1765 E. Griffith Platonic Wife v. 94 'Tis in your power to overpay them now.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. iv. 73 I even brought my mind to give acre for acre of my good corn-land for this barren spot. But then it was a national concern; and when the scene of so celebrated an event became my own, I was overpaid.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 539 His services were overpaid with honours and riches.
1907 Science Feb. 15 258/2 It is almost as injurious to overpay a mediocre man as to give a good man too little.
1976 Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) 19 Nov. 13/2 A young mother was overpaid £250 in benefits because she did not disclose that she was living with a man who was claiming supplementary benefit for her and her four children.
2002 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch (Nexis) 20 Nov. 1 a The act allows a civilian to sue on behalf of the federal government when it overpays a supplier because of alleged fraud.
b. transitive. To pay more than (an amount or price); to pay (money) in excess of what is due.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > payment > pay money or things [verb (transitive)] > pay over and above or in excess
supererogate1582
overbid1646
overpay1664
1664 R. Atkyns Orig. & Growth Printing 15 Sell the Impression for 1600l...which Impression alone over-payes them all the Moneys they are out of Purse.
1679–88 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) 130 To reimburse him so much money he hath overpaid for fee-farme rents.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 860 Thou hast made it thine by purchase,..And overpaid its value with thy blood.
a1800 W. Cowper Sparrows Self-domesticated in Wks. (1835–7) X. 118 A single doit would overpay The expenditure of every day.
1860 N. Amer. Rev. July 277 Had these volumes been the only result of the erection of the agricultural department into a branch of our State administration, they would immeasurably overpay its cost to the public treasury.
1993 R. Limbaugh See, I told you So i. 4 The government has succeeded in convincing most people to overpay their taxes.
2. intransitive. To pay a larger amount than is necessary or desirable, to make an overpayment; to pay too much or overcompensate for.
ΚΠ
1902 ‘G. B. Lancaster’ in N.Z. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 109/2 [He] doubted that the wisdom gained in a year's cadetting on Jamison's station would over-pay for the raw newness of life lived on the level of strenuous fact.
1933 Times 26 May 14/4 I have taken great pains..to pay all taxes I am called upon to pay by various Governments—not to underpay and not to overpay.
1990 J. Eberts & T. Ilott My Indecision is Final lvi. 606 Gerard is not one for overpaying for an asset—he invariably buys at a heavy discount.
2002 Daily Deal (Nexis) 15 Nov. Though AOL may be overpaying, it's building a stake in an asset that's growing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1765
v.1590