Word of the Day

Thursday, November 23, 2000

cornucopia

\kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh; -nyuh-\ , noun;

The horn of plenty, from which fruits and flowers are represented as issuing. It is an emblem of abundance.

An overflowing supply; an abundance.

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Quotes:

The fruit-trade float was a huge colorful cornucopia spilling forth a bountiful harvest.

-- David Traxel, 1898: The Birth of the American Century

Ship chandlers' shelves and floors were crammed to overflowing with acornucopia of stores and equipment, the buildings pungent with the aroma of tarred hemp rope.

-- Alan Gurney, The Race to the White Continent

Eventually bioengineers may slice out soy genes that make tumor-blocking chemicals and splice them into wheat, corn, and other grains to create a cornucopia of anticancer foods.

-- David Stipp, "Engineering the Future of Food", Fortune, September 28, 1998

Origin:

Cornucopia is from Latin cornu copiae, "horn of plenty."