Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A full or completely adequate amount or supply.
  • noun A large quantity or amount; an abundance.
  • noun A condition of general abundance or prosperity.
  • adjective Plentiful; abundant.
  • adverb Sufficiently; very.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Fullness; abundance; copiousness; a full or adequate supply; sufficiency.
  • noun Abundance of things necessary for man; the state in which enough is had and enjoyed.
  • noun A time of abundance; an era of plenty.
  • Being in abundance; plentiful: an elliptical use of the noun, now chiefly colloquial.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Obs. or Colloq. Plentiful; abundant.
  • noun Full or adequate supply; enough and to spare; sufficiency; specifically, abundant productiveness of the earth; ample supply for human wants; abundance; copiousness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A more than adequate amount.
  • pronoun A sufficient quantity. More than enough.
  • adverb Sufficiently or very.
  • adjective obsolete plentiful.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a full supply
  • adverb as much as necessary
  • noun (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French plente, from Latin plēnitās, from plēnus, full; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman plenté, from Old French plenté, from Latin plenitatem, accusative of plenitas ("fullness"), from plenus ("complete, full"), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”) (English full, via Proto-Germanic).

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Examples

  • "But," he adds, "no man who can have a piece of land of his own sufficient by his labour to subsist his family in plenty is poor enough to be a manufacturer and work for his master while there is land enough in America for our people there can never be manufacturers to any amount or value."

    Benjamin Franklin and Canada 1923

  • My husband was discussing the advantages when we were on board the steamer coming from Suez, and they are, first, that, with Abyssinia friendly, the left flank of an advancing army would be absolutely safe as far as Kassala, while water in plenty is to be found along the whole road.

    Three Months in the Soudan 1885

  • Fanny wondered what she called plenty of room, but had yet to learn the signification of the term when applied to the dressing-room of a western party.

    A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing 1892

  • Alas! it is not the body and the mass of those things which we call plenty, that can speak comfort, when the wrath of God shall blast and dispirit them with a curse.

    Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. Vol. V. 1634-1716 1823

  • The cause of this plenty is the showers that come down in their season, that descend upon the mountains of Zion, the graces of Christ, his doctrine that drops as the dew, the graces of Christ, and the fruits and comforts of his Spirit, by which we are made fruitful in the fruits of righteousness.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721

  • I'm sure many of you are great wild game chefs, specializing in plenty of dishes.

    Uncategorized Blog Posts 2009

  • But new line coach Rod Marinelli should get plenty from a group headlined by tackle Tommie Harris, whose play has not been as dominant lately.

    Even with Jay Cutler in place, can Bears put it all together? 2009

  • These amazing glass tiles that come in plenty of playful pictures, nature motifs and even 3D are sure to improve the looks of your bathroom.

    Pixilated Bathroom Design Made with Mosaic Bathroom Tiles 2009

  • The Food and Drug Administration approved a seasonal flu vaccine on Monday, in plenty of time to protect people against the three standard flu strains expected to spread this fall.

    POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: July 21, 2009 2009

  • I've been in plenty of baths in Tokyo where blokes with full body tattoos are washing.

    Tattoo in Japan Boing Boing 2009

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