Dictionary entry

Supernumerary (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Su′per‐nu″mer‐a‐ry, n.; pl.Supernumeraries (�). 1. A person or thing beyond the number stated.

2. A person or thing beyond what is necessary or usual; especially, a person employed not for regular service, but only to fill the place of another in case of need; specifically, in theaters, a person who is not a regular actor, but is employed to appear in a stage spectacle.