ample implies a generous sufficiency to satisfy a particular requirement.
ample food to last the winter
abundant suggests an even greater or richer supply than does plentiful.
streams abundant with fish
copious stresses largeness of supply rather than fullness or richness.
copious examples of bureaucratic waste
Example Sentences
They had ample money for the trip. The police found ample evidence of wrongdoing. There is ample parking at the stadium. You will have ample opportunity to finish the test. The light in the room is more than ample. There was room for an ample garden. an ample serving of pie See More
Recent Examples on the WebThe site was a former home to more than 1,800 miners and their families and in spring, offers ample opportunities to see wildflowers blooms through the space. Annie Vainshtein, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Sep. 2022 Aided by ample moisture, rainfall and cooler temperatures, crews battling the Fairview Fire managed to shore up containment of the 28,307-acre blaze to 49% over the weekend. Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 12 Sep. 2022 Police and firefighters, who collect ample overtime amid persistent staffing shortages within their bureaus, continue to earn more money than any other type of municipal employee.oregonlive, 11 Sep. 2022 Its cozy fabric blend is coupled with ample stylish details, including lantern sleeves and that waist-defining belt. Sanah Faroke, Peoplemag, 10 Sep. 2022 Skylights here admit ample light while the stylish vertical louver-board screening enhances privacy while admitting fresh air. James Alexander, Hartford Courant, 9 Sep. 2022 For now, there are ample rice stocks in government warehouses, although lower wheat procurement has already prompted a higher distribution of rice under the state-run free food and grain program. Vibhuti Agarwal, WSJ, 9 Sep. 2022 There should still be ample supplies of the meat for Thanksgiving, with the frozen birds most Americans buy for the annual holiday meal already in warehouses, according to the National Turkey Federation's Beth Breeding. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2022 Andrew Tobias explores why Biden keeps coming back to Ohio, even as there are ample signs of political challenges for him here, not the least of which was his 8-point loss in the 2020 election. Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, "abundant," borrowed from Anglo-French, "wide, extensive, great," going back to Latin amplus "more than adequate in size or extent, great, having wide scope (of the mind or other abstract entities)," of uncertain origin
Note: M. de Vaan (Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Brill, 2008) sees amplus going back to *am-lo-, a derivative of a verb base *am- going back to Indo-European *h2emh3- "take hold of" (see amateur). Semantically this hypothesis works well, though it requires that the more likely form *am-a-lo- would have undergone early syncope. The word ampla, supposedly meaning "handle," would be corroboration; however, attestations for ampla are post-classical, excepting an apparent metaphorical employment in the sense "opportunity" by Cicero.