prodigy

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prodige,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Latin prōdigium (“extraordinary event taken as an omen; monster; marvel”),^[6][2][3] which Etymonline says came also through Old French prodige.^[4] The modern ending -y represents the Latin -ium.^[7][8][9] The Latin word is of disputed origin.^[6] Its first part is prōd-, an old form of prō (“forth, before”);^{[3][7][10][4]} the second, -igium, is of uncertain origin.^[3][4] It has been taken from the root of aiō (“I say”), the source of adage,^{[7][10][11][12][13]} or of agō (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive”);^[4][8] the OED considers the link with aiō untenable in sense and form, and mentions a derivation from prōdigō, though the senses do not clearly connect.^[6] Barnhart finds the earlier explanations unconvincing.^[3] Compare Spanish prodigio, Portuguese prodígio and Italian prodigio.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An extraordinary thing or event regarded as an omen; a portent: before 1450, in Lydgate's Serpent of Division (written in 1422).^[6] Barnhart dates the form prodige to before 1470,^[3] Etymonline to the mid-15th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word already covered an omen, a monstrous event or person, and a marvel, and the English word took on these senses in turn.^[6] An abnormal or unnatural thing, especially a monster, is recorded from 1595, in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3.^[6] The sense of a wonder or marvel appears in 1616, in Jonson's Epicœne,^[6] or 1626 according to Barnhart,^[3] and a wonderful example of some quality from 1647.^[6] The use for a person of exceptional gifts, especially a precociously talented child, is first found in Evelyn's diary for 1658;^[6][3][4] Barnhart thinks it perhaps influenced by the French use of the word for an extraordinary person (1639).^[3] Johnson (1755) still listed a portent first, then a monster, then anything astonishing.^[14] Weekley dates phrases such as prodigy pianist to about 1889.^[11] The omen sense is now rare or archaic.^[6][10][13]

Timeline

• before 1450 – an extraordinary event taken as an omen, in Lydgate.^[6]
• 1595 – something abnormal or unnatural; a monster.^[6]
• 1616 – a wonder, a marvel.^[6] Barnhart dates this sense to 1626.^[3]
• 1647 – an outstanding example of a quality.^[6]
• 1658 – a person of exceptional gifts, especially a gifted child, in Evelyn's diary.^[6][3]
• c. 1889 – phrases such as prodigy pianist.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person, especially a child, with extraordinary talent or ability; a child prodigy.^[13][6]
2. An outstanding example of some quality or achievement.^[10][6]
3. Something that causes wonder or amazement; a marvel.^[13][10][6]
4. Something abnormal or monstrous.^[13][10][6]
5. (archaic) An extraordinary event taken as an omen; a portent.^[10][13][6]

Word family

• prodigious

Related words

• adage

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.