# abundance
## English
### Alternative forms

* (obsolete) abundaunce
* (obsolete) habundance
* (obsolete) boundance
* (obsolete) aboundance
* (card games) abondance

### Etymology

From Middle English abundaunce, habaundance, from Old French habundance, abondance, from Latin abundantia (“fullness, plenty”), from abundō (“to overflow”). Equivalent to abound +‎ -ance. Displaced Old English geniht (“abundance, plenty”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /əˈbʌn.dn̩s/
* (US) IPA: /əˈbʌn.dn̩s/, /əˈbʌn.dn̩ts/, /əˈbn̩.dn̩s/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: a‧bun‧dance

### Noun

abundance (countable and uncountable, plural abundances)
* A large quantity; many. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]
    Synonyms: heap, load; see also Thesaurus:lot
    Due to the abundance of art material, the class made a giant collage.
    There is not a great abundance of time, so please don't dawdle.
* An overflowing fullness or ample sufficiency; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; plentifulness. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
    Synonyms: exuberance, copiousness, overflow, plenty, plenteousness, plenitude, plentitude; see also Thesaurus:excess
** c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War:It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state.
* Wealth; affluence; plentiful amount of resources. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
    Synonyms: riches, affluence, wealth; see also Thesaurus:wealth
* Frequency, amount, ratio of something within a given environment or sample. [First attested in the late 19th century.]
* (card games) A bid to take nine or more tricks in solo whist. [First attested in the late 19th century.]
* (Scotland) enough, sufficiency.

#### Usage notes

* Synonym notes: abundance, plenty, exuberance. These words express increasing levels of fullness.
** plenty denotes there is enough to supply every need; e.g., plenty of food, plenty of money, etc.
** abundance expresses more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; e.g., the abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor
** Exuberance expresses even more, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing an enormous amount of superfluity or redundancy; e.g. an exuberance of talent, lakes replete with an exuberance of fish

#### Synonyms

* abundation (Chester)

#### Derived terms

* abundance of caution
* abundancy
* declared abundance
* hyperabundance
* in abundance
* overabundance
* royal abundance
* superabundance
* underabundance

#### Related terms

* abound
* abundant

#### Translations
### References

* 1 2 Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 8
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abundance”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 10.
* ↑ “abundance, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
* “abundance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.