A*bun"dance (&adot;*bŭn"dans),
n. [OE. (h)abundaunce, abundance, F.
abondance, L. abundantia, fr. abundare. See
Abound.] An overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great
plenty; profusion; copious supply; superfluity; wealth: -- strictly
applicable to quantity only, but sometimes used of number.
It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble
blood hath been shed with small benefit to the Christian state.
Raleigh.
Syn. -- Exuberance; plenteousness; plenty; copiousness; overflow;
riches; affluence; wealth. -- Abundance, Plenty,
Exuberance. These words rise upon each other in expressing the idea
of fullness. Plenty denotes a sufficiency to supply every want; as,
plenty of food, plenty of money, etc. Abundance
express more, and gives the idea of superfluity or excess; as,
abundance of riches, an abundance of wit and humor; often,
however, it only denotes plenty in a high degree. Exuberance rises
still higher, and implies a bursting forth on every side, producing great
superfluity or redundance; as, an exuberance of mirth, an
exuberance of animal spirits, etc.
