Etymologically
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plenus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɫeː.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈplɛː.nus][1]

Forms

plēnus (feminine plēna, neuter plēnum, comparative plēnior, superlative plēnissimus, adverb plēnē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from an e-grade variant of Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”); the zero grade would have given *plānus.[1][2] It belongs to the root of pleō “to fill”, as in compleō.[3][4] Cognate with Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇá, “full”), Ancient Greek πλήρης (plḗrēs, “full”), Old Irish lán (“full”), Old Church Slavonic плънъ (plŭnŭ, “full”), Lithuanian pilnas (“full”) and Old English full (English full).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Ennius first.[5] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5] Plautus has a character call for drink in full tankards.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant full, holding all it can, and having its proper contents, as opposed to empty.[3] With the genitive or ablative it meant abounding in something, and in a non-material sense full of business, perjury and the like.[3] Quintilian thought the ablative construction the more recent.[3] It also meant plump, and in poetry satisfied.[1]

In medieval British Latin it kept the sense full or replete.[6] It survives in Italian pieno, French plein, Spanish lleno and Portuguese cheio.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses the word.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of full tankards.[3][5]
  • c. 35–95 AD – Quintilian calls the ablative construction the newer one.[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. full, filled to the brim.[3]
  2. Having its proper contents, not empty.[3]
  3. Abounding in, full of (with genitive or ablative).[3][1]
  4. Plump, bulky.[1]
  5. (poetic) Satisfied.[1]

Word family

  • plēnārius
  • plēnilūnium
  • plēnitās
  • plēnitūdō
  • sēmiplēnus
  • plēnē
  • plēnum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press