Jump to content

abundance

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Middle English abundaunce, habaundance,[1] from Old French habundance,[2] abondance, from Latin abundantia (“fullness, plenty”), from abundō (“to overflow”). Equivalent to abound +‎ -ance. Displaced Old English geniht (“abundance, plenty”).

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈbʌn.dn̩s/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbʌn.dn̩s/, /əˈbʌn.dn̩ts/, /əˈbn̩.dn̩s/[1]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧bun‧dance

Noun

[edit]

abundance (countable and uncountable, plural abundances)

  1. A large quantity; many. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.][2]
    Synonyms: heap, load; see also Thesaurus:lot
    Due to the abundance of art material, the class made a giant collage.
    There is not a great abundance of time, so please don't dawdle.
  2. An overflowing fullness or ample sufficiency; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; plentifulness. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
    Synonyms: exuberance, copiousness, overflow, plenty, plenteousness, plenitude, plentitude; see also Thesaurus:excess
    • c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War:
      It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state.
  3. Wealth; affluence; plentiful amount of resources. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
    Synonyms: riches, affluence, wealth; see also Thesaurus:wealth
    • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 377:
      It is noteworthy that whereas socialists formerly denounced capitalism for producing poverty, the main grievance of the Frankfurt school is that it engenders abundance and satisfies a multiplicity of needs, and is thus injurious to the higher forms of culture.
  4. Frequency, amount, ratio of something within a given environment or sample. [First attested in the late 19th century.][2]
  5. (politics, uncountable, often capitalized) A political ideology that is progressive but prioritises economic growth and infrastructure construction.[Coined c. 2024.]
    • 2025 April 24, Ned Resnikoff, “A YIMBY Theory of Power”, in The Nation:
      In The Nation, Jeet Heer recently wrote that abundance “amounts to a new iteration of neoliberalism promoting deregulation and business-friendly policies.”
  6. (card games) A bid to take nine or more tricks in solo whist. [First attested in the late 19th century.][2]
  7. (Scotland) enough, sufficiency.[3]

Usage notes

[edit]
  • Synonym notes: abundance, plenty, exuberance. These words express increasing levels of fullness.
    • plenty denotes there is enough to supply every need; e.g., plenty of food, plenty of money, etc.
    • abundance expresses more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; e.g., the abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor
    • Exuberance expresses even more, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing an enormous amount of superfluity or redundancy; e.g. an exuberance of talent, lakes replete with an exuberance of fish

Synonyms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 8
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abundance”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 10.
  3. ^ “abundance, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Czech

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

    Borrowed from Latin abundantia.

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    abundance f

    1. (literary) abundance
      Synonyms: nadbytek, hojnost

    Declension

    [edit]
    Declension of abundance (soft feminine)
    singular plural
    nominative abundance abundance
    genitive abundance abundancí
    dative abundanci abundancím
    accusative abundanci abundance
    vocative abundance abundance
    locative abundanci abundancích
    instrumental abundancí abundancemi
    [edit]
    adjectives

    Further reading

    [edit]
    Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=abundance&oldid=92130762"