plenitude means fullness; completeness. It carries an Arena rating of 1865, earned across 30 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, plenitude ranks #959 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,370 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,889 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #3,002 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
plenitude is pronounced /ˈplɛnɪtjuːd/.
Why “plenitude” is a great word
A state of fullness, completeness, or an abundant supply. From Middle English plenitude, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French plenitude, from Latin plēnitūdō, from plēnus ('full') + -tūdō (noun-forming suffix indicating state or condition). Unlike 'scarcity' (which names the ache of absence, the hollow cupboard or dry well) or 'sufficiency' (which quietly meets the need, neither lacking nor overflowing), plenitude is the cup brimming, the granary spilling over, the heavy-laden bough of an autumn apple tree. It is the particular hush of a library where every shelf is packed, the scent of wet soil rising after a long rain, the moment after harvest when the earth has given too much to carry at once—a quiet, almost sorrowful, recognition of a gentle excess that is both gift and responsibility.
Etymology
From Middle English plenitude, that borrowed from Anglo-Norman plenitude, Middle French plenitude, and their source, Latin plēnitūdō.
noun
- Fullness; completeness.e.g.“The idea that the love of Philimore had abated, when hers for him seemed in its plenitude, was a most severe aggravation of her misfortune.” — 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XII, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 152:
- Fullness (of the moon).
- An abundance; a full supply.e.g.“Mankind's old greatness was created in scarcity. But what may we expect from plenitude?” — 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 156:
- The metaphysical idea that the universe contains everything that is possible.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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