plenum
[plee-nuh m, plen-uh m]
- the state or a space in which a gas, usually air, is contained at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.
- a full assembly, as a joint legislative assembly.
- a space, usually above a ceiling or below a floor, that can serve as a receiving chamber for air that has been heated or cooled to be distributed to inhabited areas.
- the whole of space regarded as being filled with matter (opposed to vacuum).
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Origin of plenum
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for plena
Historical Examples
At simul veniebat in mentem oratio Josue, & Calebi, plena divin fiduci: Terra valde bona est.
My patience was almost gone when the second girl received a lash for her “Plena Gratia.”
Frank MildmayCaptain Frederick Marryat
Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.
A Life of William ShakespeareSidney Lee
plenum
- an enclosure containing gas at a higher pressure than the surrounding environment
- a fully attended meeting or assembly, esp of a legislative body
- (esp in the philosophy of the Stoics) space regarded as filled with matterCompare vacuum (def. 1)
- the condition or quality of being full
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin: space filled by matter, from plēnus full
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for plena
plenum
n.
1670s, "filled space" (opposite of vacuum), from Latin plenum (spatium) "full (space)," neuter of adjective plenus "complete, full" (see plenary). The meaning "of a full assembly of legislators" is first recorded 1772.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper