plenteous

adjective

plen·​te·​ous ˈplen-tē-əs How to pronounce plenteous (audio)
1
: fruitful, productive
a plenteous harvestJ. G. Frazer
usually used with in or of
the seasons had been plenteous in cornGeorge Eliot
2
: constituting or existing in plenty
plenteous grace with thee is foundCharles Wesley
plenteously adverb
plenteousness noun

Examples of plenteous in a Sentence

a plenteous supply of napkins for the backyard barbecue
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Orton’s operation later expanded to include saxophonist Alabaster dePlume, whose part-time pursuits are too plenteous to list here, and guitar wonk Grey McMurray. Matthew Richards, Chicago Tribune, 7 Nov. 2022 Because the communal areas of the house are voluminous and plenteous, furniture and art choices needed to skew extra large. Charles Curkin, ELLE Decor, 13 July 2022 Early accounts say the bird used to be so plenteous that flocks would darken the sky. Story Hinckley, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 July 2018

Word History

Etymology

Middle English plenteus, plenteous, plenteouse, borrowed from Anglo-French plenteos, plentuous "rich, fertile, abounding, plentiful," probably from plenté "abundance, plenty entry 2" + -os, -ous -ous

Note: These Middle English and Anglo-French forms are far outnumbered by variants with medial -v-/-f-/-u-: plentevous, plenteuous, plentiuous, plentifus, etc., for English, and plentivous, plentevous, etc., for French. These have been taken as suffixation with -ous of Anglo-French plentif "abundant, plentiful," apparently formed from plenté and -if -ive. It is uncertain if plenteus, etc., is formed as shown in the above etymology, or from vocalization and deletion of /v/, perhaps after shift of the stress to the initial syllable; the use of <u> and <v> as interchangeable graphic variants for /v/ or /w/ or /u/ allow for a variety of readings. A full display of these and other variants can be found in Middle English Dictionary and Oxford English Dictionary, third edition.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of plenteous was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near plenteous

Cite this Entry

“Plenteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plenteous. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

plenteous

adjective
plen·​te·​ous ˈplent-ē-əs How to pronounce plenteous (audio)
plenteously adverb

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