unsurplice

U1N1S1U1R1P3L1I1C3E1

verb

To remove the surplice (and associated religious status) from.

Scrabble 14
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Meanings

verbunsurplice (third-person singular simple present unsurplices, present participle unsurplicing, simple past and past participle unsurpliced)

present singular third person unsurplices · participle present unsurplicing · participle past unsurpliced · past unsurpliced

  1. transitiveTo remove the surplice (and associated religious status) from.

    […] but Mr. — and such like, might hold an indignation meeting against him for going against the Bishops, if he did not unsurplice his choir and degrade his service to their Dissenting level.

    1882, Arthur Rawson Ashwell, Reginald Garton Wilberforce, Life of the Right Reverend Samuel Wilberforce, D. D., page 189
    1 more example

    If a Wesleyan member in Parliament has the power to unsurplice the priests and deacons of the Church of England, the member of the Church of England may hang the cope upon the shoulders of the Conference.

    1845, The Quarterly Review (London), volume 161, page 482

Origin

From un- + surplice.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

unsurplice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsurplice

MLA

“unsurplice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsurplice. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unsurplice,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsurplice.

Source: unsurplice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.