Etymologically
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abundant

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Pronunciation

  • /əˈbʌn.dənt/[1]

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

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