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Origin and history of plenty

plenty(n.)

mid-13c., "abundance; as much as one could desire; an ample supply," from Old French plentee, earlier plentet "abundance, profusion" (12c., Modern French dialectal plenté), from Latin plenitatem (nominative plenitas) "fullness," from plenus "full, filled, greatly crowded; stout, pregnant; abundant, abounding; complete," from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill."

From early 14c. as "a large amount, a great deal." The meaning "condition of general abundance" is from late 14c. The colloquial adverb meaning "very much" is first attested 1842. Middle English had parallel formation plenteth, from the older Old French form of the word.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to plenty

aplenty(adj.)

also a-plenty, "in abundance," by 1829, colloquial when used after the noun, from a- (1) + plenty (n.).

Two square feet, or four at most, in one corner of the frame, will give you mustard and cress a plenty for salads, if you take care to make repeated sowings in proper time. [William Cobbett, "The English Gardener," 1829]

But perhaps older, depending how some uses of aplenty or a plenty are read.

plenteous(adj.)

c. 1300, plenteivous, "fertile, fruitful, prolific," from Old French plentivos, plentiveus "fertile, rich" (early 13c.), from plentif "abundant," from plentee "abundance" (see plenty). From late 14c. as "abundant, plentiful, copious." Modern form by late 14c. Related: Plenteously; plenteousness.

plenteous, -iful. As with other pairs in -eous & -iful (e.g. from bounty, beauty, duty, pity), the meaning of the two is the same, but the -eous word is the less common & therefore better suited to the needs of poetry & exalted prose ; for these it should be reserved. [Fowler, 1926]
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enough
c. 1300, from Old English genog "sufficient in quantity or number," from Proto-Germanic compound *ganog "sufficient" (source also of Old Saxon ginog, Old Frisian enoch, Dutch genoeg, Old High German ginuog, German genug, Old Norse gnogr, Gothic ganohs). First element is Old Engli
batch
late 15c., probably from a survival of an unrecorded Old English *bæcce "something baked" (compare Old English gebæc) from bacan "bake" (see bake (v.)). The generalized sense of "an aggregation of similar articles" is from 1590s. Batch is to bake as watch (n.) is to wake and matc
deal
"a part or portion," Middle English del, from from Old English dæl "a part of a whole, a share;" with qualification (great, etc.), "an extent, degree, quantity, amount," from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild, Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch
copy
document), from Old French copier (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin copiare "to transcribe," originally "to write in plenty...," from Latin copia "plenty" (see copy (n.))....
copious
"abundant, plentiful," mid-14c., from Latin copiosus "plentiful," from copia "an abundance, ample supply, profusion, plenty...
abound
"be in great plenty," early 14c., from Old French abonder "to abound, be abundant, come together in great numbers" (12c.)...Related: Abounded; abounding; abounder "one who has plenty or is wealthy" (1755)....
Oscan
"Oscans," literally "worshippers of Ops," a harvest goddess, the name related to Latin ops (genitive opis) "abundance, plenty...
mass
late 14c., "irregular shaped lump; body of unshaped, coherent matter," from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley c
pile
early 15c., "heap or stack of something," usually consisting of an indefinite number of separate objects arranged in a more or less regular conical or pyramidal form, from Old French pile "a heap, a stack," and directly from Latin pila "a pillar," also "stone barrier, pier" (see
deluge
late 14c., "an overflowing of water, a great flood, Noah's Flood in Genesis," from Old French deluge (12c.), earlier deluve, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation," from diluere "wash away," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + -luere, combining form of lavere "to wash" (from PIE root

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