English
pleniloquence
Pleniloquence comes from Latin plenus ‘full’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós2‘full’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnos2‘full’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplenus3‘full’
- Englishearliest quotation 1838pleniloquence3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin plenus
- 3 Wiktionary, English pleniloquence
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “…Mr. Emerson, writing to his friend Carlyle, August 6,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nósWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnosWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplenusWiktionary, English pleniloquence‘full’
- Englishearliest quotation 1838pleniloquenceWiktionary, English pleniloquence. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “…Mr. Emerson, writing to his friend Carlyle, August 6,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
people, public, popular, complete, plus, supply, poll, folk, completion, accomplish, comply, implement, manipulation, supplement, complement, plural, plethora, depletion, puri, replete, volk, deplete, plebs, plebeian, 74 more
through Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ‘full’
through Latin plenus ‘full’
plenty, plain, ample, amplitude, amplify, plenary, replenish, plenum, 14 more
Today it means
noun Excessive or overly full speech.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “pleniloquence”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós, Latin plenus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / pleniloquence