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In 1828, Noah Webster listed the only definition of fulsome in his dictionary as "disgusting or offensive," while The Oxford English Dictionary listed "excessively flattering" as the only current definition in 1897 — dating it to 1663 — labeling the others as obsolete. Yet somewhere along the line, the original neutral meaning came back.
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.
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.
The Oxford English Dictionary records a parallel trajectory of the meaning of fulsome, this time relating to food rather than size. It started out meaning “filling” or “heavy,” then “tending to cause nausea,” and then finally “cloying” or “wearisome from excess or repetition.”
Dec 12, 2019 · When it first appeared in the mid-13th century, fulsome usually had a positive connotation. Its primary sense was “plentiful ... copious,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary ...
- Melissa Mohr
Dec 11, 1977 · December 10, 1977 at 7:00 p.m. EST. ONE OF THE BEST indications of the way language changes is the word fulsome , which has for years meant "offensive to good taste, especially from...
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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