commodious

English

WOTD – 15 June 2007

Etymology

From Middle English commodious (“convenient, advantageous”), from Anglo-Norman commodious, Old French commodieux, directly from Medieval Latin commodiosus (“convenient, useful”), irregularly from Latin commodus (“suitable, fit, convenient”), from com- + modus (“measure, manner”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”). Analyzable as commode (“(archaic or obsolete) To provide with an appropriate or necessary thing; to suit”) +‎ -ious.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈməʊdɪəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈmoʊdi.əs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊdiəs

Adjective

commodious (comparative more commodious, superlative most commodious)

1. Spacious and convenient; roomy and comfortable. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: spacious, capacious, ample

   Our house is much more commodious than our old apartment.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:12:

     And because the hauen was not commodious to winter in, the more part aduised to depart thence […]

   • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XXIII, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 295:

     Contriving to place him within the vehicle, in a manner the most commodious to his situation, Douglas commended him to the driver's care, ordering him to convey him back to the spot whence he had brought him.

   • 1854, Charles Dickens, “The One Thing Needful”, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, book the first (Sowing), page 3:

     The emphasis was helped by the speaker's square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall.

   • 1957, Henry Raymond Williamson, British Baptists in China, 1845-1952‎^[1], →OCLC, page 106:

     Meanwhile the T'ai-Yuan-Fu Boys' Boarding School had been transferred to new, more commodious and well-equipped buildings on the Hsing-Hua-Ling site.

2. (archaic) Convenient, serviceable, suitable. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: becoming, fit, proper, handy, useful

   • 1594, Richard Hooker, “How great vſe ceremonies haue in the Church”, in J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], 3rd edition, London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, book IV, page 135:

     If they thinke that we ought to proue the ceremonies commodious which we haue reteined, they doe in this point very greatly deceiue themſelues.

   • 1725, Homer, “Book IV”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, pages 178-179, lines 547-550:

     There wallowing warm, th’ enormous herd exhales / An oily ſteam, and taints the noon-tide gales. / To that receſs, commodious for ſurprize, / When purple light shall ſuffuſe the skies, / […]

   • 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], chapter XXIII, in Waverley; […], volume II, Edinburgh:  […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 345-346:

     By this way the English general had chosen to approach the metropolis, both as most commodious for this cavalry, and as being probably of opinion that by doing so, he would meet in front with the Highlanders advancing from Edinburgh in the opposite direction.

3. (now rare) Advantageous, profitable, beneficial. [from 15th c.]
   • 1632, John Guillim, “Sect[ion] III. Chap[ter] II.”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Badger for Ralph Mab, →OCLC, page 112:

     I will now ſhew vnto you, an Example of a Shield, illuſtrated with manifold variety of Celeſtiall bodies, &c. Which will be very neceſſary and commodious to be inſerted in this place.

   • 1751 September 21, Samuel Johnson, “No. 155. Tuesday, September 10. 1751 [Julian calendar].”, in The Rambler, volume VI, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1751, →OCLC, page 178:

     When a poſition teems thus with commodious conſequences, who can without regret confeſs it to be falſe?

   • 1789, John Moore, chapter III, in Zeluco: Various Views of Human Nature Taken from Life and Manners, Foreign and Domeſtic, volume I, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […] , →OCLC, page 19:

     A little after Zeluco came of age, the aunt fixed her eyes on him as a commodious match for her niece.

   • 1919, Henry de Man, “Why Men Fought”, in The Remaking of a Mind: A Soldier's Thoughts on War and Reconstruction, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, →OCLC, page 163:

     Those who did not accept them became outcasts, or at least ran the risk of suffering such disagreeable consequences as to make acceptance of the ruling of public opinion the most commodious course to an ordinary mind.

4. (now rare) Of life or living, endowed with conveniences; comfortable; free from hardship. [from 16th c.]
   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Naturall Condition of Mankind, as concerning their Felicity, and Miſery”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Of Man), page 63:

     The Paſſions that encline man to Peace, are Feare of Death; Deſire of such things as are neceſſary to commodious living; and a Hope by their Induſtry to obtain them.

   • 1710, Abraham Cowley, “Several Diſcourſes by way of Eſſays, In Verſe and Proſe”, in The Works of Mr. Abraham Cowley: […] , 11th edition, volume the Second, London: Printed for J[acob] Tonson; […] , →OCLC, page 681:

     My Life (ſays Horace) ſpeaking to one of theſe Magnifico's) is a great deal more eaſie and commodious than thine, in that I can go into the Market and cheapen what I pleaſe without being wonder'd at; […]

   • 1973, Errol E. Harris, “The State and Politics”, in Salvation from Despair, A Reapraisal of Spinoza's Philosophy, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page 193:

     The aim of government is peace, security and a commodious way of life, and if it attempts to impose upon a people by sheer force laws which they disapprove, resent and resist, they will not cooperate to provide it with the power it needs to enforce those laws and so far it will lose its right.

5. (obsolete) Of a person, accommodating, obliging, helpful.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], column 1:

     Patroclus will giue me any thing for the intelligence of / this whore: the Parrot will not doe more for an Almond, / then he for a commodious drab: […]

   • 1880 [1808], Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Thomas Ebenezer Webb, Faust, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, & Co., London: Longmans, Green, & Co., →OCLC, [Act III, scene xi], page 190:

     The dame's a most commodious quean, / A gypsy born, and go-hetween !

Antonyms

• incommodious

Derived terms

• commodiously
• commodiousness
• discommodious
• incommodious
• uncommodious

 

Related terms

• accommodate
• accommodation
• commode
• commodity
• incommode
• incommodity

 

Translations

spacious and convenient

• Bulgarian: широк (bg) (širok), просторен (bg) (prostoren)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 寬敞／宽敞 (zh) (kuānchang), 寬綽／宽绰 (zh) (kuānchuò)

• French: spacieux (fr), ample (fr), logeable (fr)
• Latin: commodus

adapted to its use or purpose

• Bulgarian: удобен (bg) (udoben)
• French: commode (fr), approprié (fr), convenable (fr)
• Latin: commodus

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “commodious (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “commodious, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Further reading

• “commodious, a.”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “commodious, a.”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC, page 1132, column 2.
• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “commodious, a.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• commodose, commodiouse, comodious, comodiouse, comodiose

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman commodious, Old French commodieux, from Medieval Latin commodiosus, based on Latin commodus.

Adjective

commodious

1. fertile
2. convenient, advantageous
3. pleasant, affable

References

• “commodiǒus, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Adjective

commodious m (oblique and nominative feminine singular commodiouse)

1. Anglo-Norman form of commodieux (“advantageous”)

References

• commodious on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub