ample

English

WOTD – 16 August 2009

Etymology

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)‎:

     …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) Maori: 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):

  (file)

• 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, 2025
• “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.