profuse

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin profūsus (“immoderate, lavish, copious; literally poured forth”),^[2][3][4] the adjectival use of the past participle of profundō (“to pour forth”),^[2][5][6] formed from prō- (“forth”) and fundō (“to pour”).^[5][4][7] Etymonline traces these to Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forward”) and to a nasalized form of *gheu- (“to pour”).^[3] The Latin adjective also gave Middle French profus (1478), Spanish profuso, Portuguese profuso and Italian profuso.^[2] The rare verb is from Latin profūs-, the past-participial stem.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lavish, extravagant, giving to excess: in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon dated about 1425, in a manuscript of about 1475.^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first described people who spent or gave too freely, and it usually took in for what they gave.^[2][7] It then passed from the giver to the thing given, meaning abundant or copious and in early use excessive: the OED has this from 1542,^[2] while Etymonline dates it to about 1600,^[3] Barnhart to before 1610^[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 17th century.^[7] Johnson (1755) still defined it first as "lavish; too liberal; prodigal", and quoted Milton's "profuse of flow'rs" for "overabounding; exuberant".^[8] A verb meaning to expend or pour forth freely, to squander, appeared in 1611^[2] and died out in the late 18th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – of people, lavish, extravagant.^[2][4]
• 1542 – abundant, copious, at first also excessive.^[2] Barnhart dates the sense to before 1610.^[4]
• 1611 – verb, to expend or give freely; to squander.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very abundant or copious, sometimes to excess: profuse sweating.^[9][10][7]
2. Giving freely, or too freely; lavish or extravagant: He was profuse in his apologies.^[9][10][2]

Verb

1. (obsolete) To pour forth or give freely; to squander.^[10][7]

Word family

• profusely
• profuseness

Related words

• profusion
• fuse
• found

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster