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• Ful
  Ful

  noun

  Fulani.
• -ful
  -ful

  a suffix meaning “full of,” “characterized by” (shameful; beautiful; careful; thoughtful ); “tending to,” “able to” (wakeful; harmful ); “as much as will fill” (spoonful ).

Ful

¹ American  

[fool] / fʊl /

noun

Fuls, plural Ful plural

1. Fulani.

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-ful ² American  

1. a suffix meaning “full of,” “characterized by” (shameful; beautiful; careful; thoughtful ); “tending to,” “able to” (wakeful; harmful ); “as much as will fill” (spoonful ).

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-ful British  

suffix

1. (forming adjectives) full of or characterized by

   painful

   spiteful

   restful

2. (forming adjectives) able or tending to

   helpful

   useful

3. (forming nouns) indicating as much as will fill the thing specified

   mouthful

   spoonful

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Spelling

The plurals of nouns ending in -ful are usually formed by adding -s to the suffix: two cupfuls; two scant teaspoonfuls. Perhaps influenced by the phrase in which a noun is followed by the adjective full ( both arms full of packages ), some speakers and writers pluralize such nouns by adding -s before the suffix: two cupsful.

Usage

What does -ful mean? The suffix -ful means “full of,” “characterized by,” “tending to,” “able to,” or “as much as will fill.” It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The suffix -ful comes from Old English -full, meaning “full.” The Latin equivalent of -ful is -ōsus, meaning “full of,” which has become the English adjectival suffixes -ose, as in jocose, and -ous, as in glorious. To learn more, check out all four entries.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Ful
  plural
• Fuls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of -ful

Middle English, Old English -full, -ful, representing full, ful full ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ful -ful Fuls

Ful medames, fava beans cooked low and slow until they’re as soft as can be, are beloved in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere in the region.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 3, 2022

Ful medames is cooked ahead to give the favas time to soften and collapse into a creamy spread with a seemingly unlimited capacity to drink up olive oil.

From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2021

Ful – we call it maraq digir – is a great way to feed a big family.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 14, 2019

Ful medames is a filling fava bean dish that is part of a traditional Egyptian breakfast.

From Scientific American ● May 13, 2013

Ful many a yeer, and woost what I desire,

From Life of John Keats His Life and Poetry, his Friends, Critics and After-fame by Colvin, Sidney

They are common enough, but are they as alive, as little petrified or bookish, as our English -ness and -ful and un-?

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Sapir, Edward

A word like beautiful is an example of A + b, the -ful barely preserving the impress of its lineage.

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Sapir, Edward

In Shakespeare many adjectives, especially those ending in -ful, -less, -ble, and -ive, have both an active and a passive meaning.

From The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar by Black, Ebenezer Charlton

"Heinrich Fuls, Pieter Muller, Ollie le Roux, Werner Swanepoel, Ruben Kruger - they were there in my era," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2023