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1200s
- 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.
www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wc/the-story-behind-fulsome/
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.
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.
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"). The meaning "main, principal, chief, dominant, first in importance" is from.
Webster’s assertion that full and foul share an etymological root is incorrect. Full comes from the Old English word that was spelled the same way, while foul comes from the Old English word fūl, meaning “rotten.” Webster then also added an entry for fullsome: Gross; disgusting by plainness, grossness or excess; as fullsome flattery or praise.
Jul 3, 2024 · Etymology. [edit] From Middle English fulsom, equivalent to ful- + -some. The meaning has evolved from an original positive connotation "abundant" to a neutral "plump" to a negative "overfed". In modern usage, it can take on any of these inflections. See usage note.
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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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.
