Full

How to spell full

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce full

What does full mean?

1. adjectiveHolding or containing as much as it can.
2. adjectiveComplete, entire, or at the highest possible degree.

Full in a sentence

• The petrol tank was full before the long drive north.

• The contractor charged the full amount despite the delay.

• The car park was already full by nine in the morning.

• The engine was running at full power up the hill.

Where does full come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is one of the oldest words in English, descending directly from the Old English 'full', which already meant 'filled' or 'holding as much as possible'. It traces back to a Proto-Germanic form 'fullaz', and beyond that to a Proto-Indo-European root 'plē-', meaning 'to fill', the very same ancient root that gives Latin 'plenus' (full) and English borrowings such as 'plenty' and 'complete'. Germanic relatives are easy to spot: German 'voll', Dutch 'vol', and Swedish 'full' all share the line of descent. The double 'l' has been part of the word for over a thousand years, while the related verb 'fill' kept a single sound but a doubled letter for the same reason. Because it is so plain and so common, its only real trap is the unexpected spelling of the vowel, written 'u' but sounded like the 'oo' in 'book'.

How the word is built

• full (a single Old English root meaning 'filled', with no prefix or suffix)