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plenum

[plee-nuh m, plen-uh m]
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noun, plural ple·nums, ple·na [plee-nuh, plen-uh] /ˈpli nə, ˈplɛn ə/.
  1. the state or a space in which a gas, usually air, is contained at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.
  2. a full assembly, as a joint legislative assembly.
  3. 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.
  4. the whole of space regarded as being filled with matter (opposed to vacuum).
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Origin of plenum

1670–80; < Latin, neuter of plēnus full1, in the phrase plēnum (spatium) full (space)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for plena

body, chamber, parliament, house, saturation, completeness, wholeness, totality, assembly, congress, diet, council, senate, plenum, attendance, integrity, plenitude, profusion, surfeit, swelling

Examples from the Web for plena

Historical Examples of plena

  • At simul veniebat in mentem oratio Josue, & Calebi, plena divin fiduci: Terra valde bona est.

    The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. I: Acadia, 1610-1613

    Various

  • My patience was almost gone when the second girl received a lash for her “Plena Gratia.”

    Frank Mildmay

    Captain Frederick Marryat

  • Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.

British Dictionary definitions for plena

plenum

noun plural -nums or -na (-nə)
  1. an enclosure containing gas at a higher pressure than the surrounding environment
  2. a fully attended meeting or assembly, esp of a legislative body
  3. (esp in the philosophy of the Stoics) space regarded as filled with matterCompare vacuum (def. 1)
  4. the condition or quality of being full
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Word Origin for plenum

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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