From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Abundance \A*bun"dance\ ([.a]*b[u^]n"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.
[1913 Webster]
It is lamentable to remember what abundance of noble
blood hath been shed with small benefit to the
Christian state. --Raleigh.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Exuberance; plenteousness; plenty; copiousness;
overflow; riches; affluence; wealth.
Usage: {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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
abundance
n 1: the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply;
"an age of abundance" [syn: {abundance}, {copiousness},
{teemingness}] [ant: {scarceness}, {scarcity}]
2: (physics) the ratio of the number of atoms of a specific
isotope of an element to the total number of isotopes present
3: (chemistry) the ratio of the total mass of an element in the
earth's crust to the total mass of the earth's crust;
expressed as a percentage or in parts per million
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