monstrum Latin · revision 6460
16 Oct 2026, 09:26 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Ennius|origins=la moneō}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmõː.strũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɔn.strum]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''mōnstrum''' ''n'' (genitive mōnstrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[moneō]] “to warn” with the instrumental suffix [[-trum]], from Proto-Italic *monestrom.^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Festus reports that Aelius Stilo derived it from the verb, as *monestrum, and that Sinnius Capito explained it as what shows the future and warns of the gods' will.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's first source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD's first citation is Plautus, of a portent.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It belonged to the language of religion: a portent, prodigy, an unnatural event as a sign from the gods, usually of misfortune, as in Cicero and Virgil.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) It came to mean an awful or monstrous thing, a horrible creature, monster, as in Terence, a person of great wickedness, as Cicero's attacks, and a monstrous act, atrocity.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a monstrosity.^(Stelten 1995) Italian ''mostro'' may be inherited, and French ''monstre'' and Spanish ''monstruo'' are borrowings.^(Wiktionary) [[en|monster]] came through Old French in the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a portent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a monster.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * early 14th century – English ''monster'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A portent, prodigy, omen.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A monstrous thing.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|monster]], monstrosity.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A wicked person.^(OLD 2012)
+ # An atrocity.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[monstrifer]]
+ * [[monstrificus]]
+ * [[monstrigena]]
+ * [[mōnstrō]]
+ * [[mōnstruōsus]]
+ * [[prōmonstrum]]
+ * [[mōnstrōsus]]
+ * [[mostellum]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[moneō]]
+ * [[en|monster]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}