splendiferous (adj.)

"brilliant, gorgeous," etymologically "splendor-bearing," considered a playful elaboration since its re-birth in 1843, but in 15c. it was good English, from Medieval Latin splendorifer, from splendor (see splendor) + ferre "to bear, carry," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."

Compare 15c. splendidious, also splendacious "very splendid" (1838). Bartlett (1859) offers this, allegedly from "An itinerant gospeller ... holding forth to a Kentuckian audience on the kingdom of heaven":

"Heaven, my beloved hearers," said he, "is a glorious, a beautiful, a splendiferous, an angeliferous place. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, it has not entered into the imagination of any Cracker in these here diggings what carryings on the just made perfect have up thar."

also from 1843

Entries linking to splendiferous

splendor (n.)

early 15c., splendoure, "radiance, great brilliance; source of magnificence or excellence," from Old French splendor, splendour (12c.), Anglo-French esplendour, and directly from Latin splendor "brilliance, brightness," from splendere "be bright, shine" (see splendid). By 1610s as "great show of riches and elegance." Alternative splendency (1590s) is obsolete.

*bher- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to carry," also "to bear children."

It forms all or part of: Aberdeen; amphora; anaphora; aquifer; auriferous; bairn; barrow (n.1) "frame for carrying a load;" bear (v.); bearing; Berenice; bier; birth; bring; burden (n.1) "a load;" carboniferous; Christopher; chromatophore; circumference; confer; conference; conifer; cumber; cumbersome; defer (v.2) "yield;" differ; difference; differentiate; efferent; esophagus; euphoria; ferret; fertile; Foraminifera; forbear (v.); fossiliferous; furtive; indifferent; infer; Inverness; Lucifer; metaphor; odoriferous; offer; opprobrium; overbear; paraphernalia; periphery; pestiferous; pheromone; phoresy; phosphorus; Porifera; prefer; proffer; proliferation; pyrophoric; refer; reference; semaphore; somniferous; splendiferous; suffer; transfer; vociferate; vociferous.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit bharati "he carries, brings," bhrtih "a bringing, maintenance;" Avestan baraiti "carries;" Old Persian barantiy "they carry;" Armenian berem "I carry;" Greek pherein "to carry," pherne "dowry;" Latin ferre "to bear, carry," fors (genitive fortis) "chance, luck," perhaps fur "a thief;" Old Irish beru/berim "I catch, I bring forth," beirid "to carry;" Old Welsh beryt "to flow;" Gothic bairan "to carry;" Old English and Old High German beran, Old Norse bera "barrow;" Old Church Slavonic birati "to take;" Russian brat' "to take," bremya "a burden," beremennaya "pregnant."

Trends of splendiferous

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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glorious

late 13c., from Anglo-French glorious, Old French glorieus "glorious, blessed" (12c., Modern French glorieux), from Latin gloriosus "full of glory, famous," from gloria (see glory (n.)). In classical Latin and in English late 14c.-17c. it also could mean "boastful, vainglorious."

resplendent

mid-15c., of color, "shining brilliantly, splendid, very bright," from Old French resplendant and directly from Latin resplendentem (nominative resplendens) "brilliant, radiant," present participle of resplendere "to glitter, shine brightly," from re-, here perhaps an intensive p

splendid

1620s, "marked by grandeur," probably a shortening of earlier splendidious "wonderful magnificent" (early 15c.), from Latin splendidus "bright, shining, glittering; sumptuous, gorgeous, grand; illustrious, distinguished, noble; showy, fine, specious," from splendere "be bright, s

tutor

late 14c., "guardian, custodian," from Old French tuteor "guardian, private teacher" (13c., Modern French tuteur), from Latin tutorem (nominative tutor) "guardian, watcher," from tutus, variant past participle of tueri "watch over, look at," a word of uncertain origin. De Vaan su

confess

late 14c., transitive and intransitive, "make avowal or admission of" (a fault, crime, sin, debt, etc.), from Old French confesser (transitive and intransitive), from Vulgar Latin *confessare, a frequentative form from Latin confess-, past participle stem of confiteri "to acknowl

community

late 14c., "a number of people associated together by the fact of residence in the same locality," also "the common people" (not the rulers or the clergy), from Old French comunité "community, commonness, everybody" (Modern French communauté), from Latin communitatem (nominative

hermaphrodite

late 14c. (harmofroditus), from Latin hermaphroditus, from Greek hermaphroditos "person partaking of the attributes of both sexes," as a proper name, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with

individual

early 15c., "one and indivisible, inseparable" (with reference to the Trinity), from Medieval Latin individualis, from Latin individuus "indivisible," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + dividuus "divisible," from dividere "divide" (see divide (v.)). Original sense now ob

hour

c. 1200, "divine office prescribed for each of the seven canonical hours; the daily service at the canonical hours;" c. 1300, "time of day appointed for prayer, one of the seven canonical hours," from Old French ore, hore "canonical hour; one-twelfth of a day" (sunrise to sunset)

revelation

c. 1300, revelacioun, "disclosure of information or knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency," from Old French revelacion and directly from Latin revelationem (nominative revelatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of revelare "unveil, uncover, lay bare" (see

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updated on May 13, 2023

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