Exceedance

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An amount by which something goes beyond a set limit ; the act of going past or surpassing a particular threshold
2. The surplus over a permitted level ; the process of overtaking or outdoing a standard or boundary
3. A quantity that rises above an allowed maximum ; the action of exceeding a fixed measure or established cap

Etymology: Exceedance is a plain formation: the verb "exceed" with the suffix "-ance" added to it. The suffix has a longer history than the verb it attaches to. It descends from Latin "-antia," which came into Old French as "-ance," and Middle English took it on as "-aunce" before the modern spelling settled in. So the ending arrived in English through French, while "exceed" itself is an English-side word that was built into the same pattern. The suffix's job is to turn an action into a noun naming the state or result of that action. "Exceedance" therefore names the act or fact of going beyond some limit, and it is most often used in technical settings such as measurement, regulation and statistics, where a value that goes over a threshold is recorded as an exceedance.

Synonyms: excess, surplus

Antonyms: shortfall, deficit