Gnótt

Gnótt is an Icelandic noun that signifies abundance, plenitude, or a large crowd of people or things. It can describe both material quantities and more figurative concentrations, such as a gnótt af opportunities or resources. In everyday Icelandic it is most often used with the preposition af to indicate a plentiful amount, as in phrases such as gnótt af fólki.

Gnótt originates from Old Norse gnótt and belongs to the Germanic family of words for fullness or multitude. In Old Icelandic texts it appears with similar senses, referring to numbers and richness, and the term has remained a stable, formal word for abundance in modern Icelandic.

Usage and nuance: The word emphasizes scale and sufficiency rather than quality; the overall tone is determined by context. It frequently appears in descriptive prose, journalism, and literature, and can also occur in everyday speech when a speaker wants to stress the size of a group or quantity.

Examples and related terms: Common collocations include gnótt af auð (an abundance of wealth) or gnótt af tækifærum (an abundance of opportunities). Related terms include fjöldi (multitude or number) and magn (mass or size).

References: For definitions and usage, see Íslenzk orðabók (Icelandic Dictionary) and Orðabók Háskólans along with standard Icelandic dictionaries that describe gnótt’s senses, etymology, and sample phrases.