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Plenty vs Surplus - What's the difference?

plenty | surplus |

As nouns the difference between plenty and surplus

is that plenty is a more than adequate amount while surplus is that which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus.

As adjectives the difference between plenty and surplus

is that plenty is (label) plentiful while surplus is being or constituting a surplus; more than sufficient; as, surplus revenues; surplus population; surplus words.

As a pronoun plenty

is more than enough.

As an adverb plenty

is more than sufficiently.

As a determiner plenty

is (label) much, enough.

plenty

English

Noun

  • A more than adequate amount.
    • We are lucky to live in a land of peace and plenty .
  • * 1798 , (Thomas Malthus), (An Essay on the Principle of Population):
    • During this season of distress, the discouragements to marriage, and the difficulty of rearing a family are so great that population is at a stand. In the mean time the cheapness of labour, the plenty of labourers, and the necessity of an increased industry amongst them, encourage cultivators to employ more labour upon their land, to turn up fresh soil, and to manure and improve more completely what is already in tillage

    Usage notes

    While some dictionaries analyse this word as a noun, others analyse it as a pronoun, Macmillan] or as both a noun and a pronoun.[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/plenty oxforddictionaries.comHarrap's essential English Dictionary'' (1996)''Heinemann English Dictionary (2001)

    Derived terms

    * horn of plenty * land of plenty * plenteous * plentiful

    Synonyms

    * abundance * profusion

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • More than enough.
    • I think six eggs should be plenty for this recipe.

    Usage notes

    See the notes about the noun.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • More than sufficiently.
    • This office is plenty big enough for our needs.
  • (label) , very.
    • She was plenty mad at him.
  • * 26 June 2014 , A.A Dowd, AV Club Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler spoof rom-com clichés in They Came Together [http://www.avclub.com/review/paul-rudd-and-amy-poehler-spoof-rom-com-cliches-th-206220]
    • Seeing clichés mimicked this skillfully is plenty hilarious.

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • (label) much, enough
    • There'll be plenty time later for that
  • (label) many
    • Get a manicure. Plenty men do it.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (label) plentiful
  • * 1597 , Shakespeare, Henry IV , Part I, Act I, Scene IV:
    • if reasons were as plenty as blackberries
  • * 1836 , The American Gardener's Magazine and Register , volume 2, page 279:
    • Radishes are very plenty . Of cabbages a few heads of this year's crop have come to hand this week, and sold readily at quotations; [...]

    Related terms

    * plenitude * plentitude

    Anagrams

    *

    References

    1000 English basic words

    surplus

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • That which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus.
  • Specifically, an amount in the public treasury at any time greater than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government.
  • (legal) The remainder of a fund appropriated for a particular purpose.
  • (legal) assets left after liabilities and debts, including capital stock have been deducted.

    • Antonyms

    * lack * deficit

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Being or constituting a surplus; more than sufficient; as, surplus revenues; surplus population; surplus words.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
    • , page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.}}