Meanings
comparative more voluminous · superlative most voluminous
- Of or pertaining to volume or volumes.
- Consisting of many folds, coils, or convolutions.
I remember that the Baroness was clad in a voluminous silk dress, pale grey in colour, and adorned with flounces and a crinoline and train.
1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter VI, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gambler_(1867)/VI)1 more example
Like the Cuscus of the Moluccas, the Galeopithecus feeds chiefly on leaves, and possesses a very voluminous stomach and long convoluted intestines. The brain is very small, and the animal possesses such remarkable tenacity of life, that it is exceedingly difficult to kill it by any ordinary means.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 211 - Of great volume, or bulk; large.
Matters of a much more extraordinary kind are to be the subject of this history, or I should grossly mis-spend my time in writing so voluminous a work […]
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling1 more example
Lukács's voluminous works are devoted for the most part to questions of aesthetics and literary criticism; but it would be wrong to say that he was a critic first and foremost and a philosopher only in a lesser degree.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 254Synonyms: capacious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf great volume, or bulk; large.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinvoluminosus
- Englishvoluminous
From Late Latin voluminosus, from volumen, from volvō (“roll, turn about”) + -men (noun-forming suffix). Related to volume.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans volumineuze
- volumineuzepertaining to volume
Arabic حَجْمِيّ, كَبِير الْحَجْم
- حَجْمِيّ (ḥajmiyy)pertaining to volume
- كَبِير الْحَجْم (kabīr al-ḥajm)of great volume
- ضَخْم (ḍaḵm)of great volume
Bulgarian обе́мист, обемен
- обе́мист (obémist)pertaining to volume
- обемен (obemen)pertaining to volume
- обемист (obemist)of great volume
- плодови́т (plodovít)having written much
Czech objemný
- objemnýof great volume
Dutch omvangrijk, volumineus
- omvangrijkpertaining to volume
- volumineusof great volume
Finnish runsas
- runsaspertaining to volume
German voluminös
- voluminösof great volume
Irish il-leabhrach
- il-leabhrachhaving written much
Norwegian voluminøs, omfangsrik
- voluminøspertaining to volume
- omfangsrikof great volume
Portuguese volumoso
- volumosopertaining to volume
Romanian voluminos
- voluminospertaining to volume
Russian ёмкостный, объёмистый
- ёмкостный (jómkostnyj)pertaining to volume
- объёмистый (obʺjómistyj)of great volume
- объёмный (obʺjómnyj)of great volume
- масси́вный (massívnyj)of great volume
- плодови́тый (plodovítyj)having written much
Spanish voluminoso, prolífico
- voluminosopertaining to volume
- prolíficohaving written much
Cite this entry
voluminous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluminous
“voluminous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluminous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “voluminous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voluminous.
Source: voluminous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.