[1595–1605; ‹ L cēreus waxen, equiv. to cēr(a) wax + -eus-eous]This word is first recorded in the period 1595–1605. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: density, detail, domain, premium, vernacular-eous is an adjectival suffix with the meanings “composed of,” “resembling, having thenature of,” occurring in loanwords from Latin (igneous; ligneous; vitreous); it is also found as a semantically neutral suffix on adjectives of diverse origin(beauteous; courteous; hideous; homogeneous; plenteous; righteous)