Copious

How to spell copious

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce copious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does copious mean?

1. adjectiveExisting or produced in large quantities; abundant.

Copious in a sentence

• She took copious notes during the lecture and reviewed them later.

• The report included copious data to support every conclusion.

Where does copious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Copious comes from the Latin copiosus, meaning 'plentiful' or 'well supplied', which was built on the noun copia, literally 'abundance' or 'a plentiful supply'. That noun itself joined co- (a form of cum, 'together') with ops, meaning 'wealth', 'resources', or 'power', so the underlying image is of resources gathered together in plenty. English took the word in during the 1300s by way of Old French copieux, and it has kept its core meaning of 'large in quantity' ever since. The same copia root survives elsewhere too: the word 'cornucopia', the overflowing horn of plenty, literally means 'horn of abundance'. For spelling, it helps to remember the simple chain copia plus -ous, since the deceptive part is the unstressed middle, which sounds like 'pee-us' but is written with the i of copia.

How the word is built

• copi- (from Latin copia: abundance, plenty)
• -ous (adjective suffix meaning 'full of')