plethora
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Late Latin plethora (earlier pletura) < Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthōrē) "fullness", from πλήθω (plēthō) "I fill".
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /'plɛθ.ə.ɹə/, SAMPA: /"pleT.@.r@/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Noun
|
Singular |
Plural |
plethora (plural plethoras)
- (usually followed by of) An excessive amount or number; an abundance.
- The menu offers a plethora of cuisines from around the world.
- (medicine, archaic) An excess of red blood cells or bodily humours.
[edit] Quotations
| 1849 | 1927 | ||||||
| ME: [[{{{enm}}}]] « | 15th c. | 16th c. | 17th c. | 18th c. | 19th c. | 20th c. | 21st c. |
- 1849, Herman Melville, Redburn. His First Voyage
- I pushed my seat right up before the most insolent gazer, a short fat man, with a plethora of cravat round his neck, and fixing my gaze on his, gave him more gazes than he sent.
- 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (The Aftermath of Gothic Fiction)
- Meanwhile other hands had not been idle, so that above the dreary plethora of trash like Marquis von Grosse's Horrid Mysteries..., there arose many memorable weird works both in English and German.
[edit] Synonyms
- (excess, abundance): glut, surfeit, superfluity, slew
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
excess, abundance
[edit] See also
[edit] Latin
[edit] Etymology
From Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthōrē) "fullness", from πλήθω (plēthō) "I fill".
[edit] Noun
plēthōra (genitive plēthōrae); f, first declension
- (later Latin): plethora
