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Literary notes about Capacious (AI summary)

The term "capacious" is frequently employed to evoke an image of abundant space or an ability to contain much, whether in concrete or metaphorical realms. In classical epic writing, it describes vast physical spaces—the secure, roomy harbor in Virgil’s work ([1]) and the large goblets and urns that hold more than their immediate content ([2], [3], [4]). At the same time, authors extend its reach to characterize human attributes, such as a broad and insightful mind ([5], [6]) or even a figuratively generous heart ([7]). Moreover, in lighter or more humorous contexts, “capacious” finds itself paired with everyday objects like pockets and waistcoats, highlighting an almost exaggerated sense of capacity ([8], [9]). In each instance, the word enriches description by suggesting an almost limitless potential for holding ideas, objects, or achievements.
  1. The port capacious, and secure from wind, Is to the foot of thund’ring Aetna join’d.
    — from The Aeneid by Virgil
  2. While they were emptying their capacious drinking horns, Ægir, who sat next to Bragi, requested him to relate something concerning the Æsir.
    — from The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson by Sæmundur fróði
  3. Capacious chargers all around were laid.
    — from The Odyssey by Homer
  4. The underground area is almost 240,000 square feet, and a million bottles of champagne can be stored in these capacious vaults.
    — from Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Henry Vizetelly
  5. As a philosopher, his mind appears to have been clear, capacious, penetrating, and insatiable of knowledge.
    — from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius
  6. His memory was capacious and retentive; his wit easy and social; his imagination sublime; his judgment clear, rapid, and decisive.
    — from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
  7. His capacious waistcoat was suggestive of a large heart underneath.
    — from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  8. We were all silent for a while, and Tiare fished out of her capacious pocket a handful of cigarettes.
    — from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
  9. So the paper of sugar was likewise dropped into one of the capacious coat pockets.
    — from Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile by Herman Melville

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