Etymology

overcompensate

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Today it means: To do an excessive amount in one area in an effort to overcome a perceived lack in another area. Full definition →

English compensate ← Middle English over- ← Old English ofer-
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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. Englishcompensate
  8. English todayovercompensate

From over- + compensate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.