enough

English Online Dictionary. What means enough‎? What does enough mean?

English

Alternative forms

• enow (archaic, often plural)
• anough (obsolete)
• aneuch, eneuch, eneugh (Scotland)
• 'nough
• enuff

Etymology

From Middle English ynogh, from Old English ġenōg (“enough”), from Proto-Germanic *ganōgaz (“enough”) (compare Scots eneuch, West Frisian genôch, Dutch genoeg, German genug, Low German noog, Danish nok, Swedish nog, Icelandic nógur), from *ganuganą 'to suffice' (compare Old English ġeneah), or from *ga- + an unattested *nōgaz, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂nó(n)ḱe (“he has reached, attained”), perfective of *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”) (compare Old Irish tánaic (“he arrived”), Latin nancisci (“to get”), Albanian kënaq (“to please, satisfy”)}.).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnʌf/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnʌf/, /i-/, /ə-/
• Rhymes: -ʌf

Determiner

enough

1. Sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.
   1. Used before a noun in the manner of words like some, a bit of, and so on.

   2. (archaic) Used after a noun.

Usage notes

• When used after a noun, the article is omitted, and it often describes an inherent adjectival quality of that noun rather than a tangible portion. Thus one hears:

 He is man enough for the job

 He is the man enough for the job.

 He is a man enough for the job.

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: nofo

Translations

Adverb

enough

1. Sufficiently.
2. Fully; quite; used after adjectives to express slight augmentation of the positive degree, and sometimes equivalent to very.
3. Used after certain adverbs to emphasise that a quality is notable, unexpected, etc.

Usage notes

• As an adverb, in modern English, enough almost always follows the verb, adjective or adverb that it qualifies. In older language and certain dialects, cases where it precedes the modified word, e.g. "He was enough satisfied" or "I was not enough recompensed", may be seen.
• The archaic form enow was remarked as early as Samuel Johnson to be used for plural nouns.

Translations

Pronoun

enough

1. A sufficient or adequate number, amount, etc.

   I have enough (of it) to keep me going.

   Enough of you are here to begin the class.

   Get some more plates. There aren’t enough yet.

   Not enough is known yet about the causes of the pandemic.

   There wasn't enough of an economic surplus.

Translations

Interjection

enough!

1. Stop! Don't do that any more!

Translations

Noun

enough (plural enoughs)

1. (rare, chiefly in the plural) An instance of being sufficient, or of doing something sufficiently.

Derived terms