copiosus

Forms

cōpiōsus (feminine cōpiōsa, neuter cōpiōsum, comparative cōpiōsior, superlative cōpiōsissimus, adverb cōpiōsē); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Inscriptions and manuscripts also have quopiosa and cup-.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōpia (“abundance”) + -ōsus.^[3][1][2] De Vaan lists ⟨cōpia⟩ under ops (“power, wealth”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *opi- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃e/op-(i-) (“ability, force”), cognate with Hittite happina- (“rich”) and Sanskrit अप्नस् (ápnas-, “possession, property”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[5] Cicero has a woman who was “quite wealthy and well off”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means “well supplied, rich”, of persons and cities, and of plants “fruitful”;^[3] Cicero says the Greeks' language is richer than Latin, and a case can give “wider scope” for argument.^[3] In rhetoric it is “eloquent, having a rich command of words”, sometimes with a pejorative hint, as Cicero's wordy man who talked for hours on a general's duties.^[3] It is also simply “abundant, plentiful”, as Cicero's large and plentiful inheritance, and of persons “numerous”.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “copious, plentiful, in great numbers”.^[6] English copious (mid-14th century) comes from it.^[7]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a rich woman, a rich language and an eloquent speaker.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a fruitful chestnut.^[3][5]
• mid-14th century – English copious.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Well supplied, wealthy; of plants, prolific; of a language, rich in words; of a subject, giving wide scope.^[3][8][1]
2. Eloquent, fluent; wordy.^[3][1]
3. Abundant, plentiful, copious; numerous.^[3][1][6]

Word family

• cōpiōsitās
• incopiosus
• percōpiōsus

Related words

• cōpia
• ops
• English copious

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press