monstrosity

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin mōnstrōsitās (“strangeness, the state of being monstrous”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} recorded from the 5th century,^[2] from Latin mōnstrōsus (“monstrous”),^[2][3][4] a by-form of mōnstruōsus,^[3][4][7] with the suffix -tās (English -ity).^[2][8] The adjective is from mōnstrum (“divine omen, portent; monster”),^[3][7] from the root of moneō (“to warn, advise”), from Proto-Indo-European *moneie- (“to make think of, remind”), a causative of *men- (“to think”).^[3] The OED compares Middle French monstrosité (“abnormal size”) (1572).^[2] An earlier form, monstruosite, abnormality, deformity, is recorded in 1402, from Medieval Latin monstruositas and French monstruosité;^[9][3] the American Heritage Dictionary traces the word through it and through Old French monstruosité.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An animal or plant that is abnormally developed or malformed: 1555, in Richard Eden's translation of Peter Martyr's Decades.^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates this sense to the 15th century,^[7] which matches the earlier form monstruosite (1402).^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the biological sense of a malformed creature the word spread to the condition of being malformed (1616),^[2] to something repulsively unnatural or outrageously wrong, an abomination (1639, in Thomas Fuller),^[2] and to a monster, real or imagined (1643, in Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici, who listed flying horses, harpies and satyrs as monstrosities).^[2][5][3] The abstract sense "the quality of being monstrous" followed in 1651.^[2][3] The commonest modern use, for something ugly, especially a huge or unsuitable building, is recorded from 1856, in the Illustrated London News.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1555 – an abnormally developed animal or plant.^[2][3]
• 1616 – the condition of being malformed.^[2]
• 1639 – something repulsively unnatural; an abomination.^[2]
• 1643 – a monster.^[2][3]
• 1651 – the quality of being monstrous or outrageously wrong.^[2][3]
• 1856 – an ugly, oversized or unsuitable building or structure.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something outrageous or very ugly, especially a huge or unsightly building: The new car park is a concrete monstrosity.^[11][2][5]
2. A monster or freak.^[11][7][2]
3. The state or quality of being monstrous.^[11][2][5]
4. (biology) A malformation of a plant or animal; an abnormally developed organism or part.^[7][2][5]

Related words

• monster
• monstrous
• monstrance
• demonstrate
• admonish
• monitor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins