different between rankness vs abundance

English

Etymology

From rank +? -ness.

Noun

rankness (countable and uncountable, plural ranknesses)

1. The quality of being rank, of having a repulsive or pungent odor.
   • 1578, Raphael Holinshed et al., Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, Volume I, Book 3, Chapter 1 “Of cattell kept for profit,” p. 222,^[1]

     […] the bowels of the beast are commonlie cast awaie because of their ranknesse […]

   • 1933, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, South Moon Under, Chapter 34,^[2]

     A match scratched and the sweet rankness of his corn-cob pipe drifted through the rooms.

2. Exuberant or uncontrolled growth.
   • 1706, John Dryden, “To my Dear Friend Mr. Congreve, On His Comedy, call’d, The Double-Dealer” in The Double Dealer by William Congreve, London: Jacob Tonson,^[3]

     Like Janus he the stubborn Soil manur’d,

     With Rules of Husbandry the Rankness cur’d:

     Tam’d us to Manners, when the Stage was rude;

     And boistrous English Wit, with Art indu’d.

   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, Chapter 18,^[4]

     […] a wilderness of weeds, to be sure, whose rankness far over-topped their neglected growth; yet, notwithstanding, evidence of a wealthy soil, that might yield luxuriant crops under other and favourable circumstances.

   • 1970, Barry Unsworth, The Hide, New York: Norton, 1997, p. 139,^[5]

     […] briar and bramble shoots lay athwart one’s path with thorns like arrowheads often concealed in tangles of grass and willowherb and cow parsley, while underlying this rankness, like a reminder of a more elegant epoch, one was aware at times of Howard’s cultivation, rose and magnolia and peony continued to flower […]

3. (obsolete) Exuberance, excessiveness.
   • c. 1612, William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, Henry VIII, Act IV, Scene 1,^[6]

     First Gentleman. God save you, sir! where have you been broiling?

     Third Gentleman. Among the crowd i’ the Abbey; where a finger

     Could not be wedged in more: I am stifled

     With the mere rankness of their joy.

4. (obsolete) Insolence.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act I, Scene 1,^[7]

     I will physic your rankness […]

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) abundaunce
• (obsolete) habundance
• (obsolete) boundance
• (card games) abondance

Etymology

• From Middle English abundaunce, habaundance, from Old French habundance, abondance, from Latin abundantia (“fullness, plenty”), from abund? (“to overflow”). See abound.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?n.dn?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??b?n.dn?s/, /??b?n.dn?ts/, /??bn?.dn?s/
• (Malaysia, Singapore) IPA^(key): /??b?n.d?nts/

Noun

abundance (countable and uncountable, plural abundances)

1. A large quantity; many. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]

2. An overflowing fullness or ample sufficiency; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; plentifulness. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
   • c. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War

     It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state.

3. Wealth; affluence; plentiful amount of resources. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
4. Frequency, amount, ratio of something within a given environment or sample. [First attested in the late 19^th century.]
5. (card games) A bid to take nine or more tricks in solo whist. [First attested in the late 19^th century.]

Usage notes

• Synonym notes: Abundance, Plenty, Exuberance. These words rise upon each other in expressing the idea of fullness.
  • Plenty denotes a sufficiency to supply every want; as, plenty of food, plenty of money, etc.
  • Abundance express more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; as, abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor; often, however, it only denotes plenty in a high degree.
  • Exuberance rises still higher, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing great superfluity or redundance; as, an exuberance of mirth, an exuberance of animal spirits, etc.

Synonyms

• abundation (Chester)
• (large quantity): heap, load; see also Thesaurus:lot
• (ample sufficiency): exuberance, copiousness, overflow, plenty, plenteousness, plenitude, plentitude; see also Thesaurus:excess
• (plentiful amount of resources): riches, affluence, wealth; see also Thesaurus:wealth

Related terms

• abound
• abundant

Translations

References

• abundance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English abundaunce, from Old French habundance, from Latin abundantia. Equivalent to abund +? -ance.

Noun

abundance (plural abundances)

1. An abundance; enough.

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.