The Correct Meaning of Plethora

Here's something interesting that I confess I hadn't really thought about. The word plethora. Like most people, I equated it with meaning 'a lot of', but the more accurate definition is actually 'in excess' or 'overabundance'. Similar meanings, but plethora shouldn't be used to simply mean 'a lot'. I looked it up on the internet just to see how it should be used and found that it is used in medical terminology to mean an excess of blood or bodily fluids. Such as, there is a plethora of blood in the kidney, etc. I also found that a reddish skin tone can be referred to as plethoric. That, I'd never heard of. So, if you want to write that there is a lot of something, don't use plethora, just say 'a lot'.