Etymologically
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abundo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈbʊn.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈbun.do][1]

Forms

abundō (present infinitive abundāre, perfect active abundāvī, supine abundātum); first conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ab- (“from, away”) and undō (“to surge, rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”), literally to flow over.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨unda⟩ from the word for water, Proto-Italic *udōr with an oblique stem ⟨*udn-⟩, from Proto-Indo-European *ud-ōr (“water”), the collective “body of water” being taken as “wave”.[4] Cognate with Umbrian utur (“water”), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”), Hittite wātar (“water”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (wato, “water”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence has “as if he were not rich in wealth” in the Heauton timorumenos,[2] and Accius “by the ancient overflowing river”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to overflow, as Lucretius' rivers that flood the plains, also to flow or ooze out of something and to be full of a liquid;[2][5] Apuleius has a woman's dress billowing in loose folds.[2][5] Lewis and Short contrast it with redundāre, to flood over with a great mass of water.[5]

With the ablative or genitive it is to be plentifully supplied, to be rich in or abound in, said of places, as Sisenna's land rich in pine and myrtle, of people and of abstract things.[2][5][1] Used alone it is to have plenty of money or more than enough.[2] The Vulgate uses it of overflowing sufferings and consolation in Paul's letters.[6] Church Latin glosses it “abound, overflow, be rich”,[7] and in Medieval Latin it is to invest surplus capital.[1] Through Old French it gave English abound in the early 14th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence of a man rich in wealth.[2][8]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of an overflowing river.[5][8]
  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna of land abounding in pines.[2][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of rivers flooding the plains.[2][8]
  • early 14th century – English abound, through Old French.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To overflow; to flow out; to be full (of a liquid).[2][5][1][7]
  2. To abound (in), be rich (in), be plentifully supplied (with).[2][5][1][7]
  3. To have plenty; to have more than enough; to exceed.[2][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) To invest (surplus capital).[1]

Word family

  • abundantia
  • abundātiō
  • abundus
  • exabundo
  • superabundō
  • abundāns
  • abundanter
  • abundē
  • undō
  • unda
  • redundō
  • inundō
  • English abound
  • English abundant

Usage notes

Döderlein contrasts abundāre, plenty in a good sense, full measure and affluence, with redundāre, in a bad sense, over-abundance and luxury.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper