plenitas

Forms

plēnitās f (genitive plēnitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin plēnus (“full”) + -tās.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Vitruvius, and Lewis & Short cite his nūbēs propter plēnitātem et gravitātem liquēscunt “clouds dissolve because of their fullness and weight”.^[3][4] Köbler dates Vitruvius c. 84–c. 25 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant fullness to saturation, repletion, and abundance, as in Vitruvius, and Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.^[2][4][5]

It survives as Old French plenté, the source of English plenty (mid-13th century).^[1][6]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^[2][3]
• mid-13th century – English plenty is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fullness, saturation.^[2][4]
2. Abundance.^[5]

Related words

• plēnus
• plēnitūdō
• English plenty

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com