bellyful

The word 'bellyful' is a transparent compound from native English elements. Its first element, 'belly', originates from the Old English belg, meaning a bag or pouch, a term which naturally evolved to refer to the stomach as a container for food. The suffix '-ful', from Old English -ful (full of), is used to form nouns indicating a quantity that fills a specific container. Thus, the literal construction "the amount that fills the stomach" logically gave rise to its primary meaning of a satisfying or excessive amount of food. This concrete sense was later extended figuratively in informal usage to mean an excessive and unwelcome amount of any experience, completing its semantic journey from a physical measure to an idiom of satiety or intolerance.

Structure: belly (abdomen, stomach) + ful (full of, characterized by) belly: From Old English belg (bag, pouch, purse), of Germanic origin. In this compound, it functions as the base noun denoting the stomach or abdomen. ful: From Old English -ful, an adjective-forming suffix meaning "full of," derived from the adjective full. In this compound, it functions as a suffix forming a noun meaning "the amount that fills."