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bounteous

[boun-tee-uh s]
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adjective
  1. giving or disposed to give freely; generous; liberal.
  2. freely bestowed; plentiful; abundant.
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Origin of bounteous

1325–75; late Middle English (bounte bounty + -ous); replacing Middle English bountevous < Middle French bontive (bonte bounty + -ive, feminine of -if -ive) + -ous
Related formsboun·te·ous·ly, adverbboun·te·ous·ness, nouno·ver·boun·te·ous, adjectiveo·ver·boun·te·ous·ly, adverbo·ver·boun·te·ous·ness, nounun·boun·te·ous, adjectiveun·boun·te·ous·ly, adverbun·boun·te·ous·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bounteous

Historical Examples

  • Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire Mirth and youth and warm desire!

    Graded Poetry: Second Year

    Various

  • I thank you, and all of you for your cordiality and bounteous hospitality.

  • No better field for beggary in all Manhattan's bounteous acreage.

  • When fortune falls in love with a man she makes him a bounteous mistress.

    The Frozen Pirate

    W. Clark Russell

  • Praise for every varied good, Bounteous round our pathway strew'd!

    The Liberty Minstrel

    George W. Clark

British Dictionary definitions for bounteous

bounteous

adjective literary
  1. giving freely; generousthe bounteous goodness of God
  2. plentiful; abundant
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Derived Formsbounteously, adverbbounteousness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bounteous

adj.

late 14c., from bounty + -ous; originally "full of goodness," but always shading toward "generous in bestowing," a sense which logically might have been left to bountiful. Related: Bounteously; bounteousness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper