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1325
- OED's earliest evidence for fulsome is from before 1325, in Genesis & Exodus.
early 13c., "of or pertaining to the head," from Old French capital, from Latin capitalis "of the head," hence "capital, chief, first," from caput (genitive capitis) "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head").
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.
And evidence shows that by the 19th century fulsome was established as a literary term chiefly expressing disapproval of excessive and obsequious praise and flattery—that is, exactly as Webster had defined it.
Jun 6, 2023 · (Pronounced /fʌlsɛm/ by the OED (1898 but now always /ˈfʊl-/.)1 If you receive fulsome praise, should you be wholeheartedly grateful to the praisers or question their sincerity? That is the heart of the question about this particular adjective. First formed in the 14c. from ...
Jul 3, 2024 · Excessively flattering (connoting insincerity). [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Yankee and the King Sold as Slaves”, in. And by hideous contrast, a redundant orator was making a speech to another gathering not thirty steps away, in laudation of "our glorious British liberties!"
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...
