Etymologically
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monster

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmɒn.stə/, US /ˈmɑːn.stɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English monstre, borrowed from Old French monstre and directly from Latin mōnstrum (“divine omen, portent; monster”),[2][3] a derivative of monēre “to remind, warn”,[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).[2] It is related to demonstrate, monitor and admonish.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A malformed animal or human, a creature with a birth defect: before 1300 in the OED, before 1325 in Barnhart, in Cursor Mundi.[6][3][2] Such abnormal creatures were taken as signs of coming evil.[2]

Semantic evolution

By the late 14th century it was used of fabulous creatures made of the parts of different animals, such as the centaur and the griffin (about 1385 in the OED).[2][6] An animal of vast size is from the 1520s (1530 in the OED),[2][6] and a person of inhuman cruelty or wickedness from the 1550s.[2][6] The adjective, of extraordinary size, is from 1837.[2][7] In Old English the monster Grendel was called an aglæca.[2] In Australian English the verb monster, to harass, is from 1967.[6] Monster film is from 1941 and monster movie by 1958.[2]

Timeline

  • a. 1300 – a malformed creature.[6]
  • c. 1385 – an imaginary beast.[6]
  • 1530 – a huge animal or thing.[6]
  • 1556 – a cruel or wicked person.[6]
  • 1837 – adjective, huge.[2][7]
  • 1958 – monster movie.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An imaginary creature that is large, ugly and frightening.
  2. A very cruel or wicked person.
  3. Something extremely large.
  4. An animal or plant that is badly malformed.

Adjective

  1. (informal) Extremely large.

Word family

  • monsterlike
  • monstrosity
  • Gila monster
  • green-eyed monster
  • hopeful monster
  • Loch Ness Monster
  • monstrous
  • demonstrate
  • monitor
  • admonish
  • muster

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster