Numerary vs. Supernumerary — What's the Difference?

Of or relating to a number or numbers.

Exceeding a fixed, prescribed, or standard number; extra

Relating to numbers or numbering.

Exceeding the required or desired number or amount; superfluous

Of a position which is held by a certain person permanently (in an administration or academy).

One that is in excess of the regular, necessary, or usual number.

A person with a numerary position.

An actor without a speaking part, as one who appears in a crowd scene.

(Roman Catholicism) A celibate lay NON-member of Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic religious institution.

A person who works in a group, association, or public office without forming part of the regular staff (the numerary).

Belonging to a certain number; counting as one of a collection or body.

An extra or walk-on, often non-speaking, in a film or play; a spear carrier.

Something which is beyond the prescribed or standard amount or number.

(zoology) An animal which has not formed a pair bond and is therefore single.

(Roman Catholicism) A married man or woman who is a secular member of Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic religious institution.

Greater in number than.

Beyond the prescribed or standard amount or number; excess, extra.

Of an organ or structure: additional to what is normally present.

Beyond what is necessary; redundant.

Exceeding the number stated or prescribed; as, a supernumerary officer in a regiment.

Exceeding a necessary, usual, or required number or quality; superfluous; as, supernumerary addresses; supernumerary expense.

A person or thing beyond the number stated.

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.

A minor actor in crowd scenes

More than is needed, desired, or required;