ponderous, a.
(ˈpɒndərəs)
Also 5–7 -owse, 6 -ouse, 7 pondrous.
[ad. F. pondéreux (c 1410 in Godef.), ad. L. ponderōsus: see prec. and -ous.]
1. Having great weight; heavy, weighty; massive; clumsy, unwieldy.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 88 Þe rotynes þat goiþ out þerof is greet in substaunce, ponderous [Add. MS. ponderose] & vneuene. 1486 Bk. St. Albans D iij b, An Egle, a Vawtere, a Melowne..theis be not enlured, ne reclaymed, by cause that thay be so ponderowse to the perch portatiff. 1555 Eden Decades 16 Clusters of grapes very ponderous. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 50 Why the Sepulcher..Hath op'd his ponderous and Marble iawes, To cast thee vp againe? 1725 Pope Odyssey iv. 892 The pondrous engine raised to crush us all. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. Introd. ii, Whose ponderous grate, and massy bar, Had oft rolled back the tide of war. 1861 Thackeray Four Georges i. (1862) 38 The stout coachmen driving the ponderous gilt wagon. |
b. fig. (Of things non-material.)
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 80, I am sure my loue's More ponderous then my tongue. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 771 Ponderous bequests of lands and goods. 1835 Browning Paracelsus iv. 157 To sink beneath such ponderous shame. |
† c. Having some weight; = ponderable. rare.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 196 After a draught of wine a man may seem lighter in himself.., although he be heavier in the balance, from a corporall and ponderous addition. |
† d. Tending by its weight towards. Obs.
| 1792 Sir W. Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXII. 16 If it be founded on such a construction of the figure of the secondaries, as makes them more ponderous towards their primary planets. |
2. Of great weight in proportion to bulk; of high specific gravity; = heavy a. 2. ponderous earth, ponderous spar: = heavy spar. ? Obs.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. i, The erthe, which is of substance grosse and ponderous. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xix. 143 A Liquor so much less ponderous then Quick⁓silver, as Water is. 1669 ― Contn. New Exp. i. (1682) 37 One of the ponderousest Liquors I have prepared. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. ii, Globes, or balls, of a most ponderous metal. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 187 It [barytes] was called Ponderous Earth, Ponderous Spar. 1800 Vince Hydrostat. vii. (1806) 80 The condensed and ponderous air from the neighbourhood of the pole. |
† 3. fig. Of grave import; weighty, serious, important, profound. Obs.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iv. 1328 The wordes of Andrewe beyn sadd & ponderose. 1602 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 73 That words be ponderous and emphaticall, where the matter seemeth to bleed. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 179 Some of acute and ponderous Judgement. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. ii. (1817) 50, I know nothing which would have so great force as strong ponderous maxims, frequently urged and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the hearers. |
† 4. Given to weighing, considering, or pondering matters; grave, deliberate. Obs.
| 1641 Symonds Serm. bef. Ho. Comm. B j b, Take what I am saying into thy most ponderous thoughts. 1646 Crashaw Steps to Temple (1857) 35 Both he lays Together: in his pond'rous mind both weighs. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 3 The next perplexed Question with pious and ponderous men. |
5. Of a literary or other task: Heavy, laborious. Of style: Laboured, lacking lightness of touch; gravely grandiloquent; dull, tedious.
| a 1704 T. Brown 1st Sat. Persius Imit. Wks. 1730 I. 53 More pond'rous guess with lighter banter meets. 1791 Boswell Johnson Introd., Sir John Hawkins's ponderous labours..exhibit a farrago. 1874 Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece i. 3 The ponderous minuteness and luxury of citation in the works of the former. 1885 J. Payn Talk of Town I. 20 ‘Your son has made a good choice of locality’, said Mr. Dennis, in his rather ponderous manner. |