Etymologically
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copiosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [koː.piˈoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ko.piˈɔː.s̬us][1]

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

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