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Historically, it has also meant "disgusting or offensive," or "copious or abundant." Fulsome dates to the 1200s, when its components (ful + som) gave it the meaning "abundant, full," says the Online Etymology Dictionary. By the mid-1300s, it had come to mean "plump, well-fed."
U.S. English. /ˈfʊlsəm/ FUUL-suhm. See pronunciation. Where does the word fulsome come from? Earliest known use. Middle English. The earliest known use of the word fulsome is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for fulsome is from before 1325, in Genesis & Exodus. fulsome is formed within English, by derivation.
Dec 11, 1977 · The original meaning of the word (from full plus some ) is "abundant, plentiful" (1250). That meaning lasted three centuries; the last citation in the OED is 1583.
Nov 3, 2014 · To begin at the beginning, the word “fulsome” meant simply “abundant” when it first appeared in writing back in 1250, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Over the centuries, it came to mean overdone, cloying, gross, nauseating, disgusting, loathsome, foul, and so on.
Is 'fulsome praise' really praiseworthy? This article explores the complex history and evolving meanings of 'fulsome,' revealing how its original sense of 'copious' has re-emerged, creating confusion and conflicting interpretations.
Fulsome dates to the 1200s, when its components ( ful + som) gave it the meaning "abundant, full," says the Online Etymology Dictionary. By the mid-1300s, it had come to mean "plump, well-fed." It morphed again in the 1600s to mean "overgrown, overfed" and "offensive to taste or good manners," a meaning it retains today.
USAGE In the 13th century when it was first used, fulsome meant simply “abundant or copious.” It later developed additional senses of “offensive, gross” and “disgusting, sickening,” probably by association with foul, and still later a sense of excessiveness: a fulsome disease; a fulsome meal, replete with too much of everything.
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