Standard Lemma guide

profusion

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /pɹoʊˈfjuʒən/
  • General-American: /pɹəˈfjuʒən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɹə(ʊ)ˈfjuːʒən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːʒən
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AH0 F Y UW1 ZH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

abundance; the state of being profuse; a cornucopia

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • His hair, in great profusion, streamed down over his shoulders.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

lavish or imprudent expenditure; prodigality or extravagance

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the property of being extremely abundant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the profusion of detail
  • the idiomatic richness of English

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: profuseness, richness, cornucopia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: abundance, copiousness, teemingness

Narrower terms: overgrowth, greenness, verdancy, verdure, wilderness

History

Etymology

From Middle French profusion, from Late Latin profusio.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изобилие (izobilie) — abundance
  • Catalan: profusió — abundance
  • Dutch: overvloed — abundance
  • Esperanto: abundo — abundance
  • Finnish: runsaus — abundance
  • Finnish: ylenpalttisuus — abundance
  • Finnish: yltäkylläisyys — abundance
  • German: Überfluss — abundance
  • German: Überfülle — abundance
  • Hindi: प्राचुर्य (prācurya) — abundance
  • Hindi: बहुलता (bahultā) — abundance
  • Hindi: अधिकता (adhiktā) — abundance
  • Irish: raidhse — abundance
  • Latin: profūsiō — abundance
  • Macedonian: изо́билство (izóbilstvo) — abundance
  • Macedonian: изоби́лие (izobílie) — abundance
  • Māori: ranea — abundance
  • Persian: وفور (vofur) — abundance
  • Plautdietsch: Äwafluss — abundance
  • Polish: obfitość — abundance
  • Romanian: profuziune — abundance
  • Romanian: abundență — abundance
  • Russian: изоби́лие (izobílije) — abundance
  • Serbo-Croatian: обиље (obilje) — abundance
  • Spanish: profusión — abundance
  • Ottoman Turkish: بركت (bereket) — abundance
  • Ukrainian: достаток (dostatok) — abundance
  • Ukrainian: багатство (bahatstvo) — abundance
  • Ukrainian: надмірність (nadmirnistʹ) — abundance
  • Bulgarian: разкош (razkoš) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Bulgarian: разточителност (raztočitelnost) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Finnish: törsäys — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • German: Verschwendung — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • German: Vergeudung — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Macedonian: ра́скош (ráskoš) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Persian: اسرافکاری (esrâf-kâri) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Romanian: extravaganță — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Russian: расточительность (rastočitelʹnostʹ) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Russian: ще́дрость (ščédrostʹ) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Ukrainian: марнотратність (marnotratnistʹ) — lavish or imprudent expenditure
  • Ukrainian: щедрість (ščedristʹ) — lavish or imprudent expenditure