different between abundant vs precious

English

Alternative forms

• aboundant, abundaunt, habundaunt, habundant (obsolete)

Etymology

First attested about 1380. From Middle English abundaunt, habundaunt, aboundant, from Anglo-Norman abundant, from Old French abondant, from Latin abund?ns, present participle of abundo (“to overflow, to abound”). Compare abound.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?n.dn?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??b?n.dn?t/, /??bn?.dn?t/

Adjective

abundant (comparative more abundant, superlative most abundant)

1. Fully sufficient; found in copious supply; in great quantity; overflowing. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
   • a. 1859, Leigh Hunt, On the Realities of Imagination

     [W]ith their magical words they [poets] bring forth to our eyesight the abundant images and beauties of creation.

   Antonyms: rare, scarce

2. Richly supplied; wealthy; possessing in great quantity. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
3. (mathematics) Being an abundant number, i.e. less than the sum of all of its divisors except itself. [First attested in the mid 16^th century.]

   Antonym: deficient

Usage notes

• (richly supplied): Normally followed by the word in or (obsolete) of.

Synonyms

• ample (see here for explanation of distinctions)
• bountiful
• copious
• exuberant
• liberal
• overflowing
• plenteous
• plentiful
• profuse
• rich
• teeming
• See also Thesaurus:abundant

Derived terms

Related terms

• abound

Translations

References

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin abundans.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?.bun?dant/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?.bun?dan/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /a.bun?dant/
• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

abundant (masculine and feminine plural abundants)

1. abundant; plentiful

Derived terms

• abundantment

Related terms

• abundància
• abundar

Further reading

• “abundant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Alternative forms

• abondant

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French abundant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?.b?n?d?nt/
• Hyphenation: abun?dant
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

abundant (comparative abundanter, superlative abundantst)

1. abundant

Inflection

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ab?n?dant/

Adjective

abundant (comparative abundanter, superlative am abundantsten)

1. abundant

Declension

Latin

Verb

abundant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of abund?

Old French

Verb

abundant

1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of abondant

English

Alternative forms

• pretious (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”), from Latin preti?sus (“of great value, costly, dear, precious”), from pretium (“value, price”); see price.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

precious (comparative more precious, superlative most precious)

1. Of high value or worth.

2. Regarded with love or tenderness.

3. (derogatory) Treated with too much reverence.

4. (derogatory) Contrived to be cute or charming.
5. (colloquial) Thorough; utter.

   a precious rascal

Synonyms

• (of high value): dear, valuable
• (contrived to charm): saccharine, syrupy, twee

Derived terms

• nonprecious
• precious metal
• precious stone
• preciously
• preciousness
• semiprecious

Related terms

Translations

Noun

precious (plural preciouses)

1. Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
   • 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

     “It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?”

   • 1909, Mrs. Teignmouth Shore, The Pride of the Graftons (page 57)

     She sat down with the dogs in her lap. "I won't neglect you for any one, will I, my preciouses?"

Adverb

precious (not comparable)

1. Very; an intensifier.

   There is precious little we can do.

   precious few pictures of him exist

Usage notes

This adverb is chiefly used before few and little; usage with other adjectives (slight, small, scant) is much more sporadic, and is in any case limited to the semantic field of “little, small, scarce, few”.

Translations

Further reading

• precious on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• precious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• precious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.