plethora - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: plethora

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	plethora
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	excess; overabundance
Etymology:	Greek 'fullness'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
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plethora

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pleth·o·ra

Audio Help [pleth-er-uh] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	overabundance; excess: a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance.

2.	Pathology Archaic. a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.

[Origin: 1535–45; < NL < Gk pléthra fullness

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pleth·o·ra Audio Help (plěth'ər-ə) Pronunciation Key
n.

A superabundance; an excess.
An excess of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area.

[Late Latin plēthōra, from Greek, from plēthein, to be full; see pelə-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
plethora

1541, a medical word for "excess of body fluid," from L.L. plethora, from Gk. plethore "fullness," from plethein "be full" (see poly-). Fig. meaning "too much, overfullness in any respect" is first recorded 1700.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

plethora
noun
extreme excess; "an embarrassment of riches" [syn: overplus]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Plethora

Pleth"o*ra\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to be or become full. Cf. Pleonasm.]

1. Overfullness; especially, excessive fullness of the blood vessels; repletion; that state of the blood vessels or of the system when the blood exceeds a healthy standard in quantity; hyper[ae]mia; -- opposed to an[ae]mia.

2. State of being overfull; excess; superabundance.

He labors under a plethora of wit and imagination. --Jeffrey.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

plethora

plethora was Word of the Day on May 29, 1999.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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