resourceful

Etymology

It is formed from English resource + -ful.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED compares the earlier resourceless, which Etymonline dates to 1787.^[2][3] The noun resource is from French ressource (“help, aid”),^[2][7] the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of Old French resourdre (“to rise again, recover”),^[2][7][3] from Latin resurgō (“to rise again”).^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Skilled in finding ways out of difficulties: the OED's first quotation is of 1808, in the report of the trial of Colonel Aaron Burr,^[2][5] and Etymonline gives 1807, with the gloss "shifty, fertile in expedient".^[3] Dictionary.com has 1850–55,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford the mid 19th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense rests on the noun's meaning "expedient, device, shift", recorded from the 1690s.^[3] The second, "rich in reserves", matches its plural use for a country's wealth, recorded by 1779,^[3]: the OED has it from 1813,^[2] Etymonline by 1847,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford calls it rare.^[4] Collins's definition of the first sense stresses ingenuity and initiative in difficult situations.^[8]

Timeline

• 1808 – skilled at devising expedients and meeting difficulties.^[2][5] Etymonline dates it to 1807.^[3]
• 1813 – rich in reserves or resources.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1847.^[3]
• mid 19th century – the noun resourcefulness.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Good at finding ways to deal with problems; ingenious and full of initiative: A resourceful camper can light a fire in wet weather.^[8][5][2]
2. (rare) Rich in reserves or natural resources: a resourceful region.^[5][2][4]

Word family

• resourcefully
• resourcefulness
• unresourceful

Related words

• resource
• resourceless
• resurgent
• source

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins