Old English fullfyllan "fill up" (a room, a ship, etc.), "make full; take the place of (something)," from full (adj.), here perhaps with a sense of "completion" + fyllan (see fill (v.), which is ultimately from the same root).
It was used from mid-13c. in reference to prophecy (probably translating Latin implere, adimplere). From mid-13c. as "do, perform; carry out, consummate, carry into effect;" from c. 1300 as "complete, finish; satiate, satisfy, gratify." Related: Fulfilled; fulfilling.
Modern English combinations with full tend to have it at the end of the word (as -ful), but this is a recent development and in Old English it was more common at the start, but this word and fulsome appear to be the only survivors.
Self-fulfilling prophecy is attested by 1949, associated with and popularized by U.S. sociologist Robert K. Merton, in writings on racial prejudices, who described it as a false definition of a situation at the outset that evokes a behavior which seems to validate the false concept.
It forms all or part of: accomplish; complete; compliment; comply; depletion; expletive; fele; fill; folk; full (adj.); gefilte fish; hoi polloi; implement; manipulation; nonplus; plebe; plebeian; plebiscite; pleiotropy; Pleistocene; plenary; plenitude; plenty; plenum; plenipotentiary; pleo-; pleonasm; plethora; Pliocene; pluperfect; plural; pluri-; plus; Pollux; poly-; polyamorous; polyandrous; polyclinic; polydactyl; polydipsia; Polydorus; polyethylene; polyglot; polygon; polygraph; polygyny; polyhedron; polyhistor; polymath; polymer; polymorphous; Polynesia; polyp; Polyphemus; polyphony; polysemy; polysyllabic; polytheism; replenish; replete; supply; surplus; volkslied.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit purvi "much," prayah "mostly;" Avestan perena-, Old Persian paru "much;" Greek polys "much, many," plethos "people, multitude, great number," ploutos "wealth;" Latin plus "more," plenus "full;" Lithuanian pilus "full, abundant;" Old Church Slavonic plunu; Gothic filu "much," Old Norse fjöl-, Old English fela, feola "much, many;" Old English folgian; Old Irish lan, Welsh llawn "full;" Old Irish il, Welsh elu "much."
late 14c., "filled (with something); completely full, filled to satisfaction," from Old French replet "filled up" (14c.) and directly from Latin repletus "filled, full," past participle of replere "to fill; fill again, re-fill," from re- "back, again" (here perhaps an intensive prefix based on the notion of "fill repeatedly," thus "fill completely;" see re-) + plere "to fill" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill"). Related: Repleteness.
"act of bringing to a desired end, consummation, full development," late 14c., complecioun, from Medieval Latin completionem (nominative completio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin complere "to fill up, complete," from com-, here probably as an intensive prefix (see com-), + plere "to fill" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill").
"completing or tending to complete," 1670s, from Late Latin completivus "serving to fill up," from past-participle stem of complere "to fill up" (see complete (adj.)).
mid-14c., replenishen, "provide" with food or drink, also riches, beauty, etc., from Old French repleniss-, extended present-participle stem of replenir "to fill up," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix based on the notion of "fill repeatedly," thus "fill completely" (see re-), + -plenir, from Latin plenus "full" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill").
Specifically as "to fill up again, restore to a former amount or condition" by 1610s. Related: Replenished; replenishing; replenishment.
