Main Entry:
- pleth·o·ra
- Pronunciation:
- \ˈple-thə-rə\
- Function:
- noun
- Etymology:
- Medieval Latin, from Greek plēthōra, literally, fullness, from plēthein to be full — more at full
- Date:
- 1541
Source: Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary
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Okay, so I’m attempting to get this train wreck of a week back on track here with a regularly scheduled wordy Wednesday. I missed my Proust post yesterday, but honestly I was feeling so full of ennui (next week’s word?) that I could not manage it.
Plethora is one of those words that I enjoy using and I have never looked it up before. Honestly, most words are this way for me. I learn words in context and sometimes that context is wrong or a modern usage skewed a great deal from the original. My understanding and usage is plethora = excess. Would knowing that plethora is associated with blood and bodily related issues caused a pause in my usage? No, I still like the way the word rolls out of my mouth. Fancy!
Plus, it works with so many things, non-blood related, like:
I have a plethora of laundry to do.
My son broke out into a plethora of angry hives after he ate an egg this morning.
Note, all of these examples are drawn from real life today. Exciting times here. At any rate, I can’t even imagine using this word (I’m not going to type it again because it is starting to look funny to me) in the original 16th century usage.
I have to remind myself not to use it too often. Great word!
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