ample

English

WOTD – 16 August 2009

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin amplus

Old French ample

Middle French amplebor.

Middle English ample

English ample

From late Middle English ample, from Middle French ample, from Latin amplus (“large”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.pəl/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -æmpəl

Determiner

ample

1. A fully sufficient or abundant quantity of; enough or more than enough.

   We have ample time to finish the task.

   It is a large house with ample space for all of us.

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost (Book II)‎^[1]:

     …a broad and ample road, whose dust is gold…

   • 1862, Richard F. Burton, The City of the Saints:

     …a line of wooden troughs supplies ample water for irrigation.

   • 1911, Various (ed. Hugh Chisholm), 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Article on Sweden:

     …possesses an ample supply of water-power for industrial purposes.

2. (as pronoun) A quantity (of something) that is fully sufficient; plenty.

   We don't need any more. We already have ample.

Adjective

ample (comparative ampler, superlative amplest)

1. Large; great in size, extent, capacity, or bulk; for example spacious, roomy or widely extended.

   We have an ample supply of water

   She has a very ample bosom.

2. Not contracted or brief; not concise; extended; diffusive

   an ample story

Synonyms

• full, spacious, extensive, wide, capacious, abundant, plentiful, plenteous, copious, bountiful; rich, liberal, munificent
• See also Thesaurus:ample
• (large): See also Thesaurus:large
• (fully sufficient): See also Thesaurus:abundant

Derived terms

• ampleness
• semiample

Related terms

• amplifiable
• amplification
• amplificatory
• amplifier
• amplify
• amplitude

Translations

large; great in size

• Armenian: լայն (hy) (layn), ընդարձակ (hy) (əndarjak)
• Bulgarian: обширен (bg) (obširen), просторен (bg) (prostoren)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 充足 (zh) (chōngzú)

• Czech: dostatečný (cs), hojný (cs), bohatý (cs), široký (cs)
• Danish: stor (da), vid
• Esperanto: ampleksa
• Finnish: tilava (fi), iso (fi), suuri (fi)
• French: ample (fr)
• Galician: amplo (gl)
• German: groß (de), umfangreich (de)
• Hindi: प्रचुर (hi) (pracur), पर्याप्त (hi) (paryāpt)
• Ido: ampla (io)
• Italian: ampio (it)
• Kazakh: жеткілікті (jetkılıktı), жетерлік (jeterlık), мол (mol), молынан (molynan)
• Latin: magnus (la)
• Persian: کافی (fa), فراوان (fa), فراخ (fa) (farâx)
• Polish: duży (pl), obszerny (pl)
• Portuguese: amplo (pt)
• Romanian: amplu (ro)
• Russian: огро́мный (ru) (ogrómnyj), обши́рный (ru) (obšírnyj), просто́рный (ru) (prostórnyj)
• Spanish: amplio (es), extenso (es), amplo (es) (dated), abundante (es), generoso (es)

not contracted or brief; not concise

• Armenian: լայնածավալ (hy) (laynacaval)
• Czech: rozsáhlý (cs)
• Danish: fyldig
• Finnish: laaja (fi), pitkä (fi)
• Galician: longo (gl)
• Kazakh: даңғарадай (dañğaradai), далиған (daliğan)
• Norwegian: fyldig (no)
• Swedish: fyllig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: مُتَوَفِّر (mutawaffir)
• Armenian: միանգամայն բավարար (miangamayn bavarar), լիառատ (hy) (liaṙat)
• Bulgarian: обилен (bg) (obilen)
• Czech: hojný (cs) m
• Danish: rigelig
• Dutch: overvloedig (nl), abondant (nl), rijkelijk voorhanden
• Finnish: runsas (fi), yltäkylläinen (fi), reilu (fi)
• Galician: amplo (gl), largo (gl)
• German: üppig (de)
• Italian: abbondante (it)
• Latin: amplus (la)
• Māori: makuru, mātuatua, ngahiri, ngeangea, rangea, hāwene, pukahu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rikelig (no)

• Portuguese: abundante (pt)
• Russian: доста́точный (ru) (dostátočnyj), оби́льный (ru) (obílʹnyj)
• Swedish: tillräcklig (sv), fullödig (sv)
• Telugu: పుష్కలం (te) (puṣkalaṁ), ధారాళం (dhārāḷaṁ)

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “ample”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “ample”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Mapel, Maple, Palme, maple, pelma

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin amplus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈam.plə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈam.ple]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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• Homophone: ampla (Balearic, Central)

Adjective

ample (feminine ampla, masculine and feminine plural amples)

1. wide
2. ample, plentiful

Derived terms

• amplada
• amplament
• amplària

Related terms

• ampliar

Further reading

• “ample”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ample”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “ample” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ample” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French ample, inherited from Latin amplus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃pl/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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Adjective

ample (plural amples)

1. plentiful, abundant, copious, profuse, ample
2. (of clothes) loose, baggy

Further reading

• “ample”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Etymology 1

Adverb

amplē (comparative amplius, superlative amplissimē)

1. amply, largely

Etymology 2

Adjective

ample

1. vocative masculine singular of amplus

References

• “ample”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ample”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English

Alternative forms

• emple

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ample, from Old French ample, from Latin amplus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈampəl/, /ˈɛmpəl/

Adjective

ample

1. (Late Middle English) ample, copious, profuse

Related terms

• amplifiyen

Descendants

• English: ample
• Scots: ample

References

• “ample, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 October 2018.