Plenary

How to spell plenary

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce plenary

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does plenary mean?

1. adjectiveAttended by all the members of a group, or full and complete in scope or power.
2. nounA meeting or session attended by all the members of a conference or assembly.

Plenary in a sentence

• adjective

  The conference opens with a plenary session before everyone splits into workshops.

• noun

  The keynote speaker addressed the morning plenary in the main hall.

• adjective

  The committee granted the new director plenary authority over the budget.

• noun

  The schedule lists a closing plenary where the findings will be summarised.

Where does plenary come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Late Latin plenarius, meaning 'full' or 'complete', which was built on the classical Latin adjective plenus, literally 'full'. The same plenus root feeds a whole family of English words about fullness and abundance, including 'plenty', 'plenitude', 'replenish' and 'plenipotentiary'. Plenary travelled into English through Old French in the medieval period, around the 1400s, at first in religious and legal language, where a 'plenary indulgence' was a full remission and a 'plenary court' was one in full session with everyone present. From there the modern sense settled on meetings attended by all the members of a body, as opposed to smaller breakout or committee groups. The single 'n' and the unstressed ending are the usual spelling traps, both of which make more sense once you see the 'plen-' of 'plenty' sitting inside it.

How the word is built

• plen- (from Latin plenus: full)
• -ary (adjective/noun suffix)