I dream of having a home library that is ample enough to hold all my books in one room or a wall like the one pictured that is more than ample enough.
ample — an adjective meaning that something is “more than adequate in size, scope, or capacity”
amplio/amplia — the masculine and feminine forms of the Spanish cognate of the same meaning
“Ample” is a great word that doesn’t get used as much in English as it does in Spanish, in my opinion. The cognates come from Latin’s amplus and the word has retained essentially the same meaning through the years.
If something is “ample,” then it has that “more than adequate” aspect of size. It’s a “generous” quality and a generous word.
The above photo shows what we might call a “large living room” but in Spanish it would more likely be called a “sala amplia” because you can see that it has that essence of being quite generous or more than adequate in the amount of space that is provided in the room.
The shelves offer the “ampleness” I need to comfortably house all my books in one room. “Ampleness” is a noun, and so is “amplitude.” Their meanings vary a bit with “amplitude” having more, but the Spanish cognate for both of these is “amplitud.”
I admire the “amplitude” of certain authors who have written a great number of books on a great number of topics.
If you “amplify” something, you increase its size or volume. You make what was “ample” even more generous in size. The Spanish cognate is “amplificar.”
An “amplifier,” which we sometimes abbreviate to the word “amp,” is the thing that “amplifies” the volume of something. My favorite amps have my name on them — ha ha.
In Spanish, it’s an “amplificador,” which is a masculine word — remember that all nouns in Spanish and Latin-based languages have gender.
Sometimes we say that someone was “amply” rewarded for doing something; thus, that person was generously rewarded or given something that went beyond what was expected. “Amply” is an adverb and as such in Spanish, it follows the pattern for creating adverbs from adjectives — you take the feminine form of the adjective which is “amplia” in Spanish and then add the “-mente” ending. Thus, the cognate is “ampliamente.”
I think I’ve been “amply sufficient” — “ampliamente suficiente” — with today’s Cognate Cognizance, so I’ll sign off for now. Reminder, though, that this is the free edition for March, so if you’re a free subscriber, you won’t hear from me again until April. Free subscribers missed the posts about “evolution,” “ridiculous,” and “mountain,” so consider upgrading to “paid” so as not to miss out on other weekly posts.
Have a great week/month. See you soon.
Tammy Marshall
Ample