Plenum Meaning
/ˈpliːnəm/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA space that is completely filled with matter.
nounA state of fullness, a great quantity (of something).
Sentence Examples
The main plenum was filled with delegates from every nation.
Air is pumped into the plenum before it enters the room.
Air circulated through the ventilation plenum in the ceiling.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The board called a ____ of all members to vote on the proposal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The full ____ of the committee met to discuss the proposed changes to the organization's charter.
Word Origin & History
From Latin plēnum n (“space filled with matter”), from plēnus (“full”). The sense of "legislative meeting" is a semantic loan from Russian пле́нум (plénum, “plenary session”), from the same Latin source.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The idea was that a thing could only move into an empty place, and that, in a plenum, there are no empty places."
— 1946, Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy:
"The key to understanding medieval interpretations of motion in hypothetically void space is to realize that medieval natural philosophers analyzed the same bodies in the void that they discussed in the plenum of their ordinary world."
— 2001, Edward Grant, God and Reason in the Middle Ages, page 176:
"He lay on the long stone slant down to the slapping waves, his denim shorts, sneakers, and socks under his head for a pillow, feeling the splendour of distance in all directions, the liquid silence, the plenum of aloneness."
— 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The board called a ____ of all members to vote on the proposal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The full ____ of the committee met to discuss the proposed changes to the organization's charter.