Fulnesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of being full, meaning filled to capacity or containing as much as can be held
2. A state of completeness in which a container, space or person has been filled up to its limit
3. Being filled to the brim or to the point of satisfaction, an archaic form of fullness

Etymology: "Fulnesse" is an older spelling of "fullness," and the word traces back to Old English "fulnes" or "fylnes," meaning "completeness" or "abundance." It is built from the adjective "full" plus the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state, so the word literally names the condition of being full. The Old English forms show the word's range of meaning from early on. "Completeness" and "abundance" were both live senses, so the idea of being full could refer to a container with nothing left empty or to a plenty of something. The word had cognates in Old High German, such as "folnissi," which shows the same formation was shared across early Germanic languages.