overbalance

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
3. Proto-Germanic*uber
4. Old Englishofer-
5. Middle Englishover-
6. Englishover-
7. Latinbilanx
8. Vulgar Latin*bilancia
9. Old Frenchbalance
10. Middle Englishbalaunce
11. Englishbalance
12. English todayoverbalance

From over- + balance.

First known use, by meaning

• from 16th c. To be more important than; to outweigh.
• from 17th c. To cause an imbalance in (something) by means of excess weight or numbers.
• from 19th c. To throw (someone or something) off balance; to cause to capsize.
• from 19th c. To lose one's balance; to fall over.