1340 Ayenbite (1866) 169 (MED) Þer comeþ zeue maneres ouercomeinges, and be þise zeue ouercominges hi wynneþ zeue maneres of corounes.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 129 Goode friday is I-halewid wiþ moche merþe and Ioye..þe preuylagis of þis day were offringe of crist, spoylinge of helle, and eke ouercomynge of deþ.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 25175 Thoru ouer cuming o þat faand.

c1475 tr. C. de Pisan Livre du Corps de Policie (Cambr.) (1977) 82 (MED) The Romayns..gate mor in sparyng of theim that were ouyrcome..than by ouyrcomyng of theim.

a1500 in Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. (1905) 27 128 (MED) By the holy fastes, contemplacions and knelynges, and ouercomyng of the fendis temptacion in the desert, haue mercy on vs.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. iii. 115 b The armie of Darius, at the ouercomming of Grecia, were armed after this manner.

1673 Kirkcudbright Town Council Rec. 8 Jan. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue V. 219/2 With full power to the saidis boaters to..ressave of fraucht fra ilk footman for his overcoming four pennies Scots money and als meikle for his overgoing.

1722 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 32 13 The aforesaid Weight of 57,5 Pounds helps down the Barrel, and facilitates the overcoming of the Force of the Atmosphere.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 124 Sir, said Mr. Williams, you have a way of overcoming, that hardly all my Reading affords an Instance of the like.

1858 J. Brown Rab in Horæ Subsecivæ 1st Ser. 301 Eyes..full of suffering, but full also of the overcoming of it.

1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 449/1 Target shooting has its pleasures, the principal of which is the overcoming of the difficulties caused by changeable light, bad winds, and mirage.

1917 C. R. Payne tr. O. Pfister Psychoanalytic Method ii. xix. 499 The overcoming of the resistance is impossible in catatonics of an advanced stage.

1971 Dict. National Biogr. 1951–60 1039/1 His successful application of his chemical researches in the field of fermentation to the overcoming of a serious shortage of acetone.

2002 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 16 Aug. a15 An overcoming of our fear of death.

eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. i. 254 Se Wigheard & lytestne alle his geferan..þy ofercumendan woole [L. pestilentia superueniente] fordilgade wæron & forðgeleorde.

OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xl. 326 Þa æt nehstan ofercumendre þæs lichaman untrumnesse he wearð gelæded to his lifes ændedæge.

c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 15 Watyr is ouircomyng in plawntys, and..is noȝt extendyd but be dyfusyon.

1664 H. More Apol. 503 No heart could escape from being struck into a swoun at the sight of so overcoming a Beauty and Majesty.

1679 M. Waite Warning to All Friends 2 The Lord..came in and comforted my Spirit, with his overcoming love, which greatly revived me.

1704 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World II. v. 303 We..shall wish to shade our eyes from thy too powerful and overcoming light.

1715 R. South 12 Serm. IV. 68 Crushed to Death under Heaps of Gold, stifled with an overcoming Plenty.

1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 51 He rose to my lips, and glewing his to them, made me so faint with over-coming joy, and pleasure, that I fell back..on the bed.

1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park III. ii. 42 Sir Thomas took the first opportunity of saying to her, with a mild gravity, intended to be overcoming, ‘Well, Fanny, I have seen Mr. Crawford again.’ View more context for this quotation

1833 F. E. von Koch Let. 18 Oct. in Lewin Lett. (1909) I. ii. 308 I recall your efficient and deep-felt sympathy for me..particularly when I was under overcoming circumstances.

1959 Dict. National Biogr. 1941–50 361/7 He shared the conviction of George Fox that the Christian life is to be a joyous overcoming life.

1972 Guardian 8 Feb. 17/2 The scariness is a bit overcoming at times.