plethora

English

WOTD – 26 April 2006

Etymology

From Late Latin plēthōra (earlier plētūra), from Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthṓrē, “fullness”), from πλήθω (plḗthō, “I fill”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: plĕʹthərə, plĕʹdhərə, plĭthôʹrə, IPA^(key): /ˈplɛθəɹə/, /ˈplɛðəɹə/, /plɪˈθɔːɹə/
• enPR: plĕʹthərə, IPA^(key): /ˈplɛθəɹə/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (AU):

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• Rhymes: -ɔːɹə

Noun

plethora (plural plethorae or plethoras)

1. (usually followed by of) An excessive amount or number; an abundance.

   The menu offers a plethora of cuisines from around the world.

   • Jeffrey

     He labours under a plethora of wit and imagination.

2. (medicine, archaic) An excess of red blood cells or bodily humours.

Quotations

• 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.

• 1986, ¡Three Amigos!

  Jefe: We have many beautiful piñatas for your birthday celebration, each one filled with little surprises!

  El Guapo: How many piñatas?

  Jefe: Many piñatas, many!

  El Guapo: Jefe, would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?

  Jefe: A what?

  El Guapo: A plethora.

  Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.

  El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?

  Jefe: Why, El Guapo?

  El Guapo: Well, you just told me that I had a plethora, and I would just like to know if you know what it means to have a plethora. I would not like to think that someone would tell someone else he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.

  Jefe: El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?

Synonyms

• (excess, abundance): glut, myriad, surfeit, superfluity, slew

Related terms

• plethoric

Translations

excess, abundance

• Catalan: plètora f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 過多／过多 (zh) (guòduō), 过多 (zh) (guòduō), 過剩／过剩 (zh) (guòshèng), 过剩 (zh) (guòshèng), 過量／过量 (zh) (guòliàng), 过量 (zh) (guòliàng)

• Czech: spousta (cs), přemíra f, nadbytek (cs) m
• Danish: overflod c
• Dutch: overmaat (nl)
• Finnish: yletön määrä, ylenpalttisuus (fi)
• French: pléthore (fr) f
• German: Fülle (de) f, Übermaß (de) n
• Greek: πληθώρα (el) f (plithóra)
• Hungarian: túltengés (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: pletora (it)
• Latin: plethora
• Maori: maruru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overflod m

  Nynorsk: overflod

• Portuguese: pletora (pt) f
• Russian: изоби́лие (ru) n (izobílije), оби́лие (ru) n (obílije), избы́ток (ru) m (izbýtok)
• Spanish: plétora (es)
• Swedish: överflöd (sv) n
• Turkish: çokluk (tr), doluluk (tr), fazlalık (tr)

See also

• myriad

References

• “plethora” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
  Pronounced: /ˈplɛθərə/, /plɪˈθɔərə/.

Anagrams

• traphole, tropheal

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthṓrē) (plēthōrē) "fullness", from πλήθω (plḗthō) (plēthō) "I fill".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pleːˈtʰoː.ra/, [pɫ̪eːˈt̪ʰoːrä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pleˈto.ra/, [pleˈt̪ɔːrä]

Noun

plēthōra f (genitive plēthōrae); first declension

1. (later Latin): plethora

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	plēthōra	plēthōrae
Genitive	plēthōrae	plēthōrārum
Dative	plēthōrae	plēthōrīs
Accusative	plēthōram	plēthōrās
Ablative	plēthōrā	plēthōrīs
Vocative	plēthōra	plēthōrae

Synonyms

• plētūra