plethora
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: plĕʹthərə
enpr: plĕʹdhərə
enpr: plĭthôʹrə
ipa: /ˈplɛθəɹə/
ipa: /ˈplɛðəɹə/
ipa: /plɪˈθɔːɹə/
enpr: plĕʹthərə
ipa: /ˈplɛθəɹə/
ipa: [ˈplɛθɹə]
ipa: /ˈpleθəɹə/
ipa: [ˈpleθɹə]
rhymes: -ɔːɹə
Forms: form: plethorae
form: plethoras
Etymology: From Late Latin plēthōra, from Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthṓrē, “fullness, satiety”), from πλήθω (plḗthō, “to be full”) + -η (-ē, nominal suffix).
Senses: examples: text: The menu offers a plethora of cuisines from around the world.
text: 1817, Francis Jeffrey, review of Lalla Rookh, in the Edinburgh Review
He labours under a plethora of wit and imagination.
text: 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.
ref: 1849, Herman Melville, Redburn: His First Voyage. […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 1927, H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (The Aftermath of Gothic Fiction):
text: 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.
ref: 1986, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Randy Newman, ¡Three Amigos! (film)
roman: Jefe: Oh yes, El Guapo. You have a plethora.
text: The story of the woodhen is one outstanding conservation triumph in a plethora of tragedy.
ref: 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 233:
glosses: An excessive amount or number; an abundance.
raw_tags: followed by of
examples: text: [Y]our Character at Present is like a Person in a Plethora, absolutely dying of too much Health—
ref: 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:
text: The food necessary for the maintenance of his dog, a bull-terrier, in the condition of ferocious plethora to which it was accustomed, he generously declared himself willing to pay for out of his own pocket, […]
ref: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: Excess of blood in the skin, especially in the face and especially chronically.
Synonyms: sense: excess, abundance
word: glut
sense: excess, abundance
word: myriad
sense: excess, abundance
word: surfeit
sense: excess, abundance
word: superfluity
sense: excess, abundance
word: slew
Hypernyms: sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: hyperemia
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: hyperperfusion
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: congestion
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: engorgement
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: injection
Coordinate terms: sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: flushing
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: blushing
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: floridity
sense: excess of blood in the skin
word: ruddiness
Derived terms: plethoral
Related terms: plethoric
erythema
rash