Etymologically
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numerous

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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“measured, rhythmic, harmonious”, after Latin numerus “rhythm”, is from 1589,[8] and “that can be numbered” (1638) is obsolete.[8] In Wiltshire it was once an adverb, “very”: “I be numerous fond o' puddin”.[9]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
  • 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)