surcroîts

Surcroît is a French noun meaning an additional amount or increment beyond what already exists or is expected. The term is typically used to indicate something extra that increases a quantity, burden, or gain. The plural form is surcroîts.

Etymologically, surcroît derives from sur- meaning above or over and croître meaning to grow, conveying the sense of growth beyond a baseline. It appears in written French from the Middle French period and remains common in formal and legal prose.

Common uses of surcroît occur in economic, fiscal, administrative, and legal contexts. For example, surcroît d’impôt refers to an additional tax, surcroît de charges to an extra burden of costs, and surcroît de travail to an increased workload. In finance, it can denote a supplementary amount due beyond the expected base payment. The expression au surcroît is a fixed phrase meaning “in addition” or “on top of that.”

Figuratively, surcroît can describe an extra or unforeseen element added to a situation, such as a surcroît de malheur (an additional misfortune). While related terms like supplément or addition convey similar ideas, surcroît often carries a formal or literary tone and can emphasize the cumulative effect of the added amount.

In usage today, surcroît remains a primarily French term found in scholarly, legal, and administrative writing, and is sometimes encountered in translations or discussions of French texts.