opulence

English

Etymology

From French opulence, from Latin opulentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɒp.jʊl.əns/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒpjʊləns

Noun

opulence (countable and uncountable, plural opulences)

1. Wealth.
2. Abundance, bounty, profusion.
3. Ostentatious display of wealth and luxury; plushness.
   • 1721, John Gay, “A Panegyrical Epiſtle to Mr. Thomas Snow, Goldſmith, near Temple-Bar; Occaſion’d by his Buying and Selling the Third South-Sea Subſcriptions, taken in by the Directors at a Thouſand per Cent”, in Miſcellanies, volume 3, published 1733, page 239:

     There in full Opulence a Banker dwelt,
     Who all the Joys and Pangs of Riches felt;
     His Side-board glitter’d with imagin’d Plate;
     And his proud Fancy held a vaſt Eſtate.

   • C. J. Fox:

     The most meritorious persons have always … been removed from opulence.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wealth

Related terms

• opulent

Translations

wealth

• Catalan: opulència f
• Dutch: rijkdom (nl) m, weelde (nl)
• Finnish: vauraus (fi)
• German: Reichtum (de) m, Wohlstand (de) m
• Latin: opēs (la) f pl, opulentia f
• Polish: obfitość (pl) f
• Romanian: opulență (ro) f
• Russian: бога́тство (ru) n (bogátstvo)
• Spanish: opulencia (es) f
• Swedish: rikedom (sv)

abundance

• Dutch: overvloed (nl) m
• Finnish: ylenpalttisuus (fi)
• Russian: изоби́лие (ru) n (izobílije), пы́шность (ru) f (pýšnostʹ) (figuratively)
• Swedish: överflöd (sv) n

ostentatious display of wealth and luxury

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: loisto (fi), mahtailu (fi), ylenpalttisuus (fi)
• Russian: ро́скошь (ru) f (róskošʹ), роско́шество (ru) n (roskóšestvo)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin opulentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.py.lɑ̃s/

Noun

opulence f (plural opulences)

1. opulence

Related terms

• opulent

Further reading

• “opulence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.