English
copious
Copious comes from Latin copiosus ‘copious, plentiful, abundant’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōps‘abounding in, rich, copious’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcopia‘abundance’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcopiosus‘copious, plentiful, abundant’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500copious
- Englishearliest quotation 1748copious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōps‘abounding in, rich, copious’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcopia‘abundance’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcopiosus‘copious, plentiful, abundant’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500copious
- Englishearliest quotation 1748copious
Earliest quotation: 1748, David Hume, Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding: “These loose hints I have thrown together, in order…”
Equivalent to copy + -ous
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’
…
Latin cōpia ‘abundance, plenty’
Medieval Latin copia ‘reproduction, transcript’
Old French copie ‘abundance; transcript, copy’
Middle English copy
English copy
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’
operation, bus, operate, operator, opera, omnibus, oeuvre, opus, omnivore, 22 more
through Proto-Italic *opis
through Latin ops
office, official, optimum, opulent, officiate, opulence, officiant, officious, 10 more
through Latin copia ‘abundance’
Today it means
adj Vast in quantity or number, profuse, abundant; taking place on a large scale.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- / copious