exuberant

From Middle French exubérant, from Latin exūberāns, the present active participle of exūberō (“be abundant”). Put together from ex (“out”), and uber (“udder”), and originally would have referred to a cow or she-goat which was making so much milk that it naturally dripped or sprayed from the udder.

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡˈzuːbəɹənt/

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exuberant (comparative more exuberant, superlative most exuberant)

1. (of people) Very high-spirited; extremely energetic and enthusiastic.
   • 1882, Frank R. Stockton, "The Lady or the Tiger?":

     He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts.

   • 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22:

     She was a tall, earthy, exuberant girl with long hair and a pretty face.

2. (of things that grow) Abundant, luxuriant, profuse, superabundant.
   • 1852, The Ark, and Odd Fellows' Western Magazine

     It pencilled each flower with rich and variegated hues, and threw over its exuberant foliage a vesture of emerald green.

   • 1972, Ken Lemmon, "Restoration Work at Studley Royal," Garden History, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 22:

     The County Architect's Department is starting to pleach trees to open up these vistas, now almost hidden by the exuberant growth.

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

exūberant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of exūberō