abound

English

Etymology

First attested around 1325.
From Middle English abounden, abounde, from Old French abonder, abunder, from Latin abundāre, present active infinitive of abundō (“overflow”), which comes from ab (“from, down from”) + undō (“surge, swell, rise in waves, move in waves”), from unda (“wave”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈbaʊnd/
(US) IPA^(key): /əˈbaʊnd/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -aʊnd

Verb

abound (third-person singular simple present abounds, present participle abounding, simple past and past participle abounded)

(intransitive) To be full to overflowing; to bristle. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]^[1]
(intransitive, obsolete) To be wealthy. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 18^th century.]^[1]
(intransitive) To be highly productive.
(intransitive) To be present or available in large numbers or quantities; to be plentiful. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]^[1]
Wild animals abound wherever man does not stake his claim.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 5:20:
  Moreouer, the Lawe entred, that the offence might abound: but where sinne abounded, grace did much more abound.
- 1960 December, “New G.E. Line diesel loco maintenance depot at Stratford”, in Trains Illustrated, page 766:
  One end of the east-west building is wet, the other windy, and at present there is smoke abounding, too; but these distressing yard elements can be completely excluded at each end by full-width folding doors [...].
(intransitive) To revel in. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 18^th century.]^[1]
To be copiously supplied. [with in or with ‘something’]
The wilderness abounds in traps.

This pond abounds with fish.
- 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Further Account of Glubbdubdrib. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 108:
  I could plainly diſcover from whence one Family derives a long Chin; why a ſecond hath abounded with Knaves for two Generations, and Fools for two more; why a third happened to be crack-brained, and a fourth to be Sharpers.
- 1858-1860, George Rawlinson, The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World
  the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan and in the country about Hamadan

Usage notes

This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

to be full to overflowing

Czech: překypovat impf, být plný
Dutch: zeer productief zijn, overvloedig voortbrengen
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌰𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 (gaaukan)
Greek:
Ancient: βρύω (brúō)
Serbo-Croatian: obilovati (sh)

to be highly productive

Dutch: abortuskoorts m

to be plentiful

Arabic: كَثُر (ar) (kaṯur), تَوَفَر (ar) (tawafar)
Egyptian Arabic: كتر (keter), اتوفر (etwafar)
Bulgarian: изобилствам (izobilstvam)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 盛產／盛产 (zh) (shèngchǎn), 富有 (zh) (fùyǒu), 富於／富于 (zh) (fùyú)
Czech: hojně se vyskytovat
Dutch: overvloedig aanwezig zijn, wemelen (nl) (van), in grote aantallen voorkomen
Esperanto: abundi (eo), sufiĉegi
Finnish: olla runsaasti, olla tulvillaan
French: foisonner (fr)
Galician: abondar (gl), sobexar, rebordar, amorrar, abouxar (gl)
German: im Überfluss vorhanden sein, wimmeln (de) (von)
Greek:
Ancient: βρύω (brúō)
Italian: abbondare (it), essere abbondante
Japanese: たくさんある (ja) (takusan aru)
Latin: exubero
Maori: whakamakuru
Mapudungun: ünüfn
Portuguese: abundar (pt), ser abundante
Quechua: achkachay
Romanian: abunda (ro)
Russian: изоби́ловать (ru) impf (izobílovatʹ), кише́ть (ru) impf (kišétʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: obilovati (sh)
Spanish: abundar (es), ser abundante
Swedish: finnas i riklig mängd, finnas i överflöd
Thai: เต็มไปด้วย (dtem bpai dûay), อุดมไปด้วย (udom bpai dûay)

to be copiously supplied with

Chinese:
Mandarin: 充滿／充满 (zh) (chōngmǎn)
Czech: oplývat (cs) impf, překypovat impf
Dutch: wemelen van, krioelen van
Finnish: olla runsaasti, olla tulvillaan, olla täynnä (+ partitive), olla pullollaan (+ partitive)
French: abonder en, fourmiller de
Galician: abondar (gl), sobexar, rebordar, amorrar, abouxar (gl)
German: wimmeln von, wimmeln an
Hungarian: bővelkedik (hu)
Italian: abbondare (it), essere abbondante
Japanese: たくさん (ja) (takusan)
Portuguese: abundar (pt), ser abundante
Spanish: abundar (es), ser abundante

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

Ido: ^{(please verify)} abundar (io)
Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} có rất nhiều, ^{(please verify)} có thừa, ^{(please verify)} nhan nhản (vi), ^{(please verify)} lúc nhúc (vi), ^{(please verify)} đầy dẫy (vi)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abound”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

[SOED-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abound”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

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