abundant

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aboundaunt, also habundaunt,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman abundant and in part directly borrowed from Latin abundāns (“overflowing, abounding”),^[4][5][2][3] the present participle of abundō (“to overflow”),^[5][6][7] the verb behind abound.^[5][6] The Latin verb was formed from ab- (“away, off”) and undō (“to rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”),^[5][6] which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace to the root Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”).^[5][6] Barnhart notes that some writers of the 14th and 15th centuries probably took the word straight from the Latin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Overflowing, more than enough; existing in great quantity, plentiful: a1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[4] Barnhart's first example is from about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^[2] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1325–75.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The sense "possessing something in great plenty, rich in", with in or formerly of, is recorded from c1405, in Chaucer's Clerk's Tale,^[4][7] and in early use the word could also mean bountiful or fruitful.^[4] In mathematics an abundant number, one whose divisors add up to more than itself, is recorded from 1557, in Robert Recorde's Whetstone of Witte.^[4][7] An adverbial use, "in abundance", is found from a1450.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as plentiful and exuberant.^[9] Modern dictionaries add technical senses in chemistry and physics, of how common an element, mineral or isotope is relative to others.^[10]

Timeline

• c1380 – Barnhart's first example, in Chaucer's Boece.^[2]
• a1382 – plentiful, more than sufficient.^[4]
• c1405 – rich in something, with in.^[4]
• a1450 – adverb, abundantly.^[4]
• 1557 – mathematics, of a number exceeded by the sum of its divisors.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Existing in large quantities; more than enough; plentiful: abundant rainfall.
2. Having a plentiful supply of something, with in or with: a river abundant in trout.
3. (chemistry, physics) Of an element, mineral or isotope, occurring to a stated extent in relation to others.
4. (mathematics) Of a number, smaller than the sum of its divisors.

Word family

• abundantly
• superabundant
• abundant number

Related words

• abound
• abundance
• redundant
• undulate
• water

Usage notes

Dictionary.com refers abundant to its synonym study at plentiful, and gives sparse and scarce as antonyms.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins