fullness, fulness
(ˈfʊlnɪs)
[f. full a. + -ness. OE. had fyllnes = OHG. folnissi:—OTeut. *fullinassu-z; but as the existing word does not appear before the 14th c. it was prob. a new formation rather than a refashioning of the older word.
The spelling fullness, though less common (exc. in the U.S.) than fulness, is here adopted as more in accordance with analogy: see the remarks s.v. dullness.]
The quality or condition of being full.
1. a. The condition of being filled so as to include no vacant space.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 80 b, The equall medley of heat and cold, drieth and moisture, fulnesse and emptinesse. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 254 How commeth it to passe..that the Lake it selfe never diminisheth, nor increaseth, but alwayes standeth at one fulnesse. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. vii. 223 If the presence of this æthereal Matter made an absolute Fulness. a 1716 South Serm. (1737) II. iv. 145 Like water in a well, where you have fulness in a little compass. |
b. fig. Of the ‘heart’: The state of being overcharged with emotion.
| 1625 Bacon Ess., Friendship (Arb.) 165 A principall Fruit of Frendship, is the Ease and Discharge of the Fulnesse and Swellings of the Heart. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xx. (1824) 636 He yielded to the fulness of his heart. 1885 R. Buchanan Annan Water vi, Father only speaks out of the fulness of his heart. |
2. a. The condition of containing (something) in abundance, or of abounding in (a quality, etc.).
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xviii. 2 Fulnes of wisdom & gastly sauour. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxiv. 215 That Fulnesse [of the Holy Ghost] is not to be understood for Infusion of the substance of God. 1878 L. P. Meredith Teeth 19 He..died in consequence of fulness of blood. |
b. concr. All that is contained in (the world, etc.). A Hebraism.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xlix. [l.] 13 Þe world and þe fulnes of it is myn. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xvii. 32 Let the See make a noyse, and the fulnesse therof. 1738 Wesley Ps. xxiv. i, The Earth and all her Fulness owns Jehovah for her sovereign Lord! |
3. a. Completeness, perfection; complete or ample measure or degree.
| c 1320 Cast. Love 283 Of oone volnes they were ful ryȝht. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer Offices 8 b, The fulnesse of thy grace. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 35 Such is the Fulnesse of my hearts content. 1610 Bp. Carleton Jurisd. 2 They yeeld to the Pope a fulnesse of power as they tearme it, from whence all Spirituall Iurisdiction must proceed to others. 1611 Bible Ps. xvi. 11 In thy presence is fulnesse of ioy. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 225 The Son of God, In whom the fulness dwels of love divine. a 1704 T. Brown Two Oxford Scholars Wks. 1730 I. 10 Houses where I shall be entertained with such fulness of delight..that [etc.]. 1843 Miall in Nonconf. III. 401 Christianity is distinguished by..a fulness of generosity. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. IV. vii. ii. 44 The papacy in the fullness of its strength. |
b. Phrases. the fullness of time (= Gr. πλήρωµα τοῦ χρόνου): In Biblical language, the proper or destined time. in its fullness: in its full extent, without exceptions or qualifications.
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) Gal. iv. 4 When the fulnes of time was come, God sent forthe his Sonne. 1640 Howell Dodona's Gr. (1645) 41 And this work was done in a fulness of time. 1751 Jortin Serm. (1771) I. i. 4 Which in the fulness of time should be made manifest. 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 134 Admitting the suggestion in its fulness. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 728 That tale he adopts in its fulness. |
c. Copiousness or exhaustiveness (of knowledge, statement, or expression).
| 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 410 The words, with a Divine fulness, express [etc.]. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. i. 5 To illustrate the principles of linguistic science..with as much fullness as the limited space at command shall allow. 1885 Manch. Exam. 8 May 5/2 The study of the ancient languages is one which peculiarly demands fullness of knowledge to make it fruitful. 1887 Spectator 3 Sept. 1188 The interesting matters which he describes with more or less fullness. |
† 4. The condition of being satisfied or sated; satiety, repletion; the condition of having indulged to excess. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. lvi. 10 Vnshamefast doggus knewen not fulnesse. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 182/1 Fulnesse of mete, sacietas. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 109 Thair wes nowdir lad nor [pr. not] loun Mycht eit ane baikin loche For fowness. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 115 As for me, if I may enjoy the fulnesse of my desyres, the residue of my lyfe will I lead in Rhodes. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lvi. 6 Although today thou fill Thy hungry eyes even till they wink with fullness. 1666 Stillingfl. Serm. (1696) I. i. 43 When God hath made us smart for our fulness and wantonness, then we grew sullen and murmured and disputed against providence. 1682 Norris Hierocles 93 In the third place he puts Exercise, as that which corrects the fulness of diet. |
† 5. The condition of being well supplied with what one needs. Hence, of things, abundance, plenty. Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 182/2 Fulnesse or plente, habundancia, copia. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. vi. 12 To lapse in Fulnesse Is sorer, then to lye for Neede. 1648 Eikon Bas. ix. 57 The Houses; to whom I wished nothing more then Safetie, Fulness, and Freedom. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 225 Amidst this Fulness of every thing. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 180 Before I revelled in fulness, and here I struggled with hard fare. |
6. Of sound, colour, etc.: The quality of being full; ‘volume’, ‘body’.
| 1440 Promp. Parv. 182/2 Fulnesse of sownde, sonoritas. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 7 The..Applauses of the People..were true and vnfeigned, as might well appeare in the very Demonstrations and Fulnesse of the Crie. a 1744 Pope Pastorals i. note, This sort of poetry [pastoral] derives almost its whole beauty from a natural ease of thought and smoothness of verse; whereas that of most other kinds consists in the strength and fulness of both. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 131 Ochres..Exhibited on account of their clearness, fulness of colour, body. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 230/2 A subtle mingling of colour, an exquisite delicacy and refinement of treatment, a fulness such as always results from a rich mingling of hues. 1881 Standard 18 Oct. 3/4 The wort is..passed into a copper with 20 per cent. of malt-flour, to impart fullness and flavour. |
7. a. Full habit of body; roundness or protuberance of outline.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 505 Crabbes heere with us have a sympathy with the Moone, and are fullest with her fulnes. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 173 To heare of your health, and that you keepe your bodie in that reasonable fulnesse of flesh, which contributes something to your gravitie. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 378 Most of them by a Fulness of Body are subject to the Hemorrhoids. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne i. 7 A certain degree of fulness improves the figure. a 1822 Shelley Pericles Ess. & Lett. (Camelot) 140 The face is of an oval fulness. 1841 Brewster Mart. Sc. iii. ii, In a family notorious for fulness, she is considered superfluously fat. |
b. A feeling of internal pressure or distension.
| 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 364, I perceived a sense of fulness in the head, and throbbing of the arteries. 1807 Ibid. XVII. 528 ‘Internal distress, a sense of fulness and aching’ may be felt. |
8. Dressmaking. The condition of being ‘full’. Also concr. the portion of material arranged in folds to produce this.
| 1801 Jane Austen Let. 5 May (1952) 125 No fulness appears either in the body or the flap; the back is quite plain. 1884 West. Daily Press 2 June 7/2 An ordinary short skirt..trimmed with flounces, or other fulnesses. 1897 Globe 18 Feb. 6/3 The fulness of this blouse effect is drawn in close at the waist. |