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prettygoodwordplethoric (ple-THAWR-ik, PLETH-uh-rik) - adj., excessive, superabundant, overfull; (arch.) (Med.) a bodily condition characterized by an excess of blood and marked by swelling and a florid complexion, sanguine.
I came across this in a poem that mentioned a hunter in autumn coming across "the plethoric bear," which threw me for a loop -- the only meaning I could divine was that there was a plethora i.e. excess of bears, but in context there was clearly only one. Admittedly, to some people, a single bear, if present, is too many, but it was still an odd phrasing. I now see the archaic medical term was almost certainly intended: the bear is swollen i.e. fat, with overtones of being cranky. Still an odd phrasing, but now it at least makes ... a little sense? I guess? Coined in the 16th century from plethora, excess, from Ancient Greek plēthṓra, fullness.
---L.
I came across this in a poem that mentioned a hunter in autumn coming across "the plethoric bear," which threw me for a loop -- the only meaning I could divine was that there was a plethora i.e. excess of bears, but in context there was clearly only one. Admittedly, to some people, a single bear, if present, is too many, but it was still an odd phrasing. I now see the archaic medical term was almost certainly intended: the bear is swollen i.e. fat, with overtones of being cranky. Still an odd phrasing, but now it at least makes ... a little sense? I guess? Coined in the 16th century from plethora, excess, from Ancient Greek plēthṓra, fullness.
---L.
