exuberant

See also: exubérant

Englisch

WOTD – 28 August 2010

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French exubérant, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin exūberāns, the present active participle of exūberō (“be abundant”). Put together from ex (“out”), and uber (“udder”), and originally would have referred to a cow or she-goat which was making so much milk that it naturally dripped or sprayed from the udder.

exuberant (comparative more exuberant, superlative most exuberant)

(of people) Very high-spirited; extremely energetic and enthusiastic.
- 1882, Frank R. Stockton, "The Lady or the Tiger?":
  He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts.
- 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22:
  She was a tall, earthy, exuberant girl with long hair and a pretty face.
(of things that grow) Abundant, luxuriant, profuse, superabundant.
- 1852, The Ark, and Odd Fellows' Western Magazine
  It pencilled each flower with rich and variegated hues, and threw over its exuberant foliage a vesture of emerald green.
- 1972, Ken Lemmon, "Restoration Work at Studley Royal," Garden History, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 22:
  The County Architect's Department is starting to pleach trees to open up these vistas, now almost hidden by the exuberant growth.

people very high-spirited

abundant, luxuriant, profuse, superabundant