numerous

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈnjuː.mər.əs/, US /ˈnuː.mɚ.əs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English numerous,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin numerōsus,^[4][5] partly through Middle French numereux,^[6] from numerus (“a number”),^[4][5] the source of number, with the suffix -ous.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Consisting of a large number”: the early 15th century in Etymonline,^[4] probably before 1425 in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon according to Barnhart.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OED's evidence starts later: “plentiful, comprising many units” from about 1586,^[8] “many, of great number”, the main modern use, from 1622,^[8] and “consisting of many individuals” from 1647.^[8] “Containing many people, crowded” is from about 1611.^[8] An old sense “measured, rhythmic, harmonious”, after Latin numerus “rhythm”, is from 1589,^[8] and “that can be numbered” (1638) is obsolete.^[8] In Wiltshire it was once an adverb, “very”: “I be numerous fond o' puddin”.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – consisting of a large number.^[5][4]
• c. 1586 – plentiful.^[8]
• 1589 – rhythmic.^[8]
• 1622 – many.^[8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Amounting to a large number; many: numerous complaints.
2. Consisting of many individuals or parts.

Word family

• numerously
• numerousness
• overnumerous
• supernumerous

Related words

• number
• numeral
• enumerate
• innumerable
• numerical

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 (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)