plenitude

From Middle English plenitude, that borrowed from Anglo-Norman plenitude, Middle French plenitude, and their source, Latin plēnitūdō.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈplɛnɪtjuːd/

plenitude (countable and uncountable, plural plenitudes)

1. Fullness; completeness. [from 15th c.]
   • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XII, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 152:

     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.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 393:

     Louis ignored him, recalling the parlements to the plenitude of their powers on 23 September.

2. (heraldry and older astronomy) Fullness (of the moon). [from 19th c.]
3. An abundance; a full supply. [from 17th c.]
   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 156:

     Mankind's old greatness was created in scarcity. But what may we expect from plenitude?

4. (philosophy) The metaphysical idea that the universe contains everything that is possible.

• plenitude principle
• plentitude

• plenty
• plenitudine

Borrowed from Latin plēnitūdō.

plenitude oblique singular, f (oblique plural plenitudes, nominative singular plenitude, nominative plural plenitudes)

1. plenitude; fullness

• → English: plenitude
• French: plénitude

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (plenitude, supplement)
• plenitude on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub