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full

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ful, inherited from Old English full,[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *fullaz, earlier *fulnaz.[3][4] Its Germanic cognates are Old Frisian full, Old Saxon full, Dutch vol, Old High German fol (modern German voll), Old Norse fullr and Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌻𐍃 (fulls).[3][5] The Germanic -ll- continues an older -ln- (compare Lithuanian pilnas),[6] from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥nós (“filled, full”),[4][7] from the root *pelə- (“to fill”).[8][9] Outside Germanic it is related to Latin plēnus (“full”), Ancient Greek πλήρης (plḗrēs, “full”), Old Irish lán (“full”) and Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇá, “full”).[6][7][10] The verb meaning “to thicken cloth” is a different word, from Old French fouler (“to trample, press”), from Latin fullō (“fuller”), of unknown origin.[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adverb, “very, fully” (before 899, in King Alfred's translation of Boethius); as an adjective, “complete, full” (917, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old English full already meant “containing all that can be held”, “having eaten or drunk enough” and “perfect, entire”.[8] The adverb “very, entirely” was common in Middle English (full well, full many),[8][11] and Weekley thought it survived mainly through Gray's Elegy.[11] From the 1580s the adverb also meant “exactly, directly” (full in the face).[8] Full moon is Old English,[8][6] and full of “abounding in” is also recorded before 1000.[12] The slang sense “drunk” is recorded from the 16th century and later became mainly Australian.[13][14] South African English used full of for “covered with” (full of mud), under the influence of Afrikaans vol; this use was once also British.[15] Compounds include full-grown (1667, in Milton's Paradise Lost), full dress (1761) and full blast (1839, American).[6] A full house was a full theatre from 1710 and a poker hand from 1887.[8]

Timeline

  • before 899 – adverb full, very, fully (Alfred).[6]
  • 917 – adjective full (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).[6]
  • before 1000 – full moon.[6]
  • c. 1300 – of the heart, overcharged with emotion.[12]
  • 1529 – of an account, detailed.[13]
  • 1554 – drunk.[13]
  • 1580s – adverb, exactly, directly.[8]
  • 1667 – full-grown (Milton).[6]
  • 1710 – full house in the theatre.[8]
  • 1761 – full dress.[8][6]
  • 1794 – verb, of the moon, to become full.[16]
  • 1887 – full house in poker.[8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Holding as much as possible; having no empty space.
  2. Having eaten as much as one can.
  3. Complete, with nothing left out: a full account.
  4. Of the greatest degree: at full speed.
  5. Having a great number or quantity: full of mistakes.
  6. Having all rights or privileges: a full member.
  7. Rounded, plump: a full face.
  8. Of clothes, made with a generous amount of fabric.
  9. (Australian slang) Drunk.

Adverb

  1. Completely, entirely.
  2. Exactly, directly: hit him full in the face.
  3. (archaic) Very: full well.

Noun

  1. The greatest extent or degree: enjoy life to the full.

Verb

  1. (sewing) To gather or pleat (fabric).
  2. Of the moon, to become full.

Word family

  • fullness
  • full-grown
  • fuller
  • fuller's earth

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  15. ^ A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, Dictionary Unit for South African English, https://dsae.co.za
  16. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster