Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fulsome” come from?

Fulsome comes from Middle English -some, from Old English full-, from Proto-Germanic sumaz, from Proto-Indo-European sem-, meaning together or same.

fulsome (English): Offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous,...

Definitions

  1. Offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous,...

Ancestry of “fulsome”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfulsom—
2Middle Englishfúl—
3Old Englishfullfull, filled, complete, entire; a beaker; a cup,...
4Proto-West Germanicfullfull
5Proto-Germanicfullazfull; the whole, the entire
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpl̥h₁nósfull
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “fulsome”

  • fulsomely
  • fulsomeness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →