1. Excess; overabundance; a very large amount or number of something; especially, an oversupply: When Mr. Johnson's secretary ordered paperclips using an online source, she evidently typed in the wrong number because instead of receiving 100 paperclips, she received a plethora of 10,000 paperclips!
2. An abnormal amount of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area; usually in the facial veins, causing a ruddy complexion: The plethora in Susan’s cheeks was very obvious because she just finished running around the track four times without stopping!
3. Etymology: from about 1541, "excess, superabundance" and a medical word for "excess of body fluid", from Late Latin plethora, from Greek plethore, "fullness" from plethein "to be full".

In our modern times, plethora is more often used in general situations or in a non-medical sense, with the meaning of "excess" or "abundance".

The figurative meaning of "too much, over fullness in any respect" was first recorded in about 1700.

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A temporary increase in the volume of the blood in other parts of the body, caused by forcing blood from a part that is to be amputated.