: a curved, hollow goat's horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing especially with fruit and vegetables (such as gourds, ears of corn, apples, and grapes) and that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of abundance
We marveled at the cornucopia of fruits, meats, toys, fresh fish, baskets, utensils and leather goods for sale in stalls that lined the streets for as far as we could see.—Guy Garcia
For contemporary performers, soul represents a cornucopia of musical ideas.—Jon Pareles
Cornucopia comes from the Late Latincornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of “an overflowing supply.”
The market is a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables.
The book includes a cornucopia of wonderful stories.
Recent Examples on the WebDuring his interview with Bloomberg, Cox clarified that this cornucopia of training data also sucks up public posts on Instagram which includes users’ images, videos, and public comments and captions.—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 5 June 2024 Being in the back of a camper was particularly welcome because both of our parents smoked incessantly — as people did back then — so riding in the back of our Ford Falcon station wagon was a cornucopia of second-hand smoke.—Marla Jo Fisher, Orange County Register, 29 May 2024 In 2022, Newsom’s budget staff evidently looked at a spike in tax revenue as the state’s economy recovered from the pandemic, mostly due to massive amounts of federal relief funds, and concluded that the cornucopia would continue indefinitely.—Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 21 May 2024 Fortune sits on a fragile bubble, ready to burst at any moment and send her cornucopia of abundance flying.—Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for cornucopia
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cornucopia.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Late Latin, from Latin cornu copiae horn of plenty
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