egregious English · revision 93

5 Oct 2026, 20:55 by bogdan “Extended entry (pronunciation, etymology, semantic history, meanings) from AHD, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary”
Initial text

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ɪˈɡɹiː.d͡ʒəs/, /əˈɡɹiː.d͡ʒi.əs/^(Wiktionary)
+ * Respelling: ''ĭ-grēˈjəs'', ''-jē-əs''^(AHD)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ First recorded c. 1534,^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) [[bor|la|ēgregius|t=distinguished, excellent, extraordinary]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from the phrase ''ex grege'' “rising above the flock”,^(Etymonline) from ''ē-'' “out of” + ''grex'' “herd, flock”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|ine-pro|*ger-|t=to gather]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “Distinguished, eminent, excellent”, of persons and their qualities,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and of things, “remarkably good or great”.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The disapproving sense arose in the late 16th century, probably through ironic use,^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) and is now the predominant one.^(Etymonline) This sense does not belong to Latin ''ēgregius'' or Italian ''egregio'';^(OED 1989) the Italian and Spanish cognates, both ''egregio'', have kept a strictly positive sense.^(Wiktionary) The word typically comes before abusive epithets such as ''ass'', ''rascal'' and ''rogue''.^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1534 – of persons, “distinguished, eminent”.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1547–64 – of things, “remarkably good or great”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1573 – first use in a bad sense, of persons: “gross, flagrant”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1630 – the bad sense applied to things and actions.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Conspicuously or outrageously bad; flagrant, as in ''an egregious error''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(archaic)'' Distinguished, eminent.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[egregiously]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ * [[egregiousness]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[gregarious]], from the same Latin ''grex''^(MW Collegiate)
+ * Synonyms: [[gross]], [[outrageous]], [[notorious]]^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}