I like to eat a Caesar salad regularly. Sometimes I’ll put sliced barbecued chicken breast or beef steak on the top of the salad. Other times I enjoy parmesan cheese and bacon bits on the lettuce. I have found over the past few months that the price of Romaine lettuce is exorbitant. So much so that I hesitate to purchase it, even on sale.
Exorbitant means exceeding the customary limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size. Housing prices have risen so much in the past decade that many families find the cost of buying a new home is exorbitant.
Exorbitant is derived from the Latin exorbitare, meaning to deviate. This Latin word is formed from ex (out of, from) plus orbita (the track of a wheel). When hauling a cart and it moves out of the normal road track, it has deviated (exorbitare) from the customary course.
In the 15th century the English language used exorbitant to describe Christian souls who wandered or deviated from the prescribed teachings of the Church. They were straying from the usual course of faith and life. The exorbitant were no longer on the straight and narrow according to Church law.
Exorbitant also implied those who gave off-topic remarks in a discussion. When they were discussing the effects of the new law posted by the sheriff, he gave exorbitant comments when he started mentioning the weather.
Exorbitant suggested leaders who used powers to go beyond the scope of the law. The queen became exorbitant as she arrested anyone who disagreed with her about her religious views.
Later, exorbitant extended its meaning to describe anything that exceeds appropriate or customary limits. Many people describe banking fees as an exorbitant way of increasing profits to satisfy shareholders.
Excessive, immoderate, inordinate, extravagant, extreme, and exorbitant all mean going beyond a normal limit.
Excessive suggests an amount or degree too great to be reasonable or acceptable. The law needs to be changed as a 10 year jail sentence is excessive for minor theft.
Immoderate implies a lack of desirable or necessary restraint. Every time he went into the clothing store Bill engaged in immoderate spending.
Inordinate means an exceeding of the limits dictated by reason or good judgment. She took inordinate pride in the lushness of the front lawn at her house.
Extravagant indicates an indifference to restraints imposed by truth, prudence, or good taste. He made extravagant claims concerning his ability to play golf.
Extreme implies an approach to the farthest limit possible or conceivable. Joe had an extreme love of eating chocolate.
Exorbitant suggests a departure from accepted standards regarding amount or degree. She made exorbitant demands of all the employees’ footwear at the store.
One of the statements I made prior to getting married was that I would clean the bathrooms in whatever home we lived in. I did not anticipate owning a house with four bathrooms. However, I diligently continue with that chore to this day. I try to clean all bathrooms on a weekly basis as leaving toilets, etc. much longer than that requires an exorbitant amount of work.
Summer is often a time for vacations and travel. Are you finding the cost of accommodations and fuel exorbitant?
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
