Dictionary entry

Supererogate

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Su′per‐er″o‐gate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p.Supererogated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Supererogating.] [L. supererogatus, p. p. of supererogare to spend or pay out over and above; super over, above + erogare to expend or pay out money from the public treasury after asking the consent of the people. See Super-, and Erogate, Rogation.] To do more than duty requires; to perform works of supererogation; to atone (for a dificiency in another) by means of a surplus action or quality.

The fervency of one man in prayer can not supererogate for the coldness of another. Milton.