enormity English · revision 94

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪˈnɔːmɪti/ ''(Received Pronunciation)'', /ɪˈnoɹmɪti/ ''(General American)''^(Wiktionary)

+ * Respelling: ''ĭ-nôrˈmĭ-tē''^(AHD)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Recorded from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[bor|frm|énormité]],^(RHWU)^(AHD) from Old French ''enormité'' “extravagance, atrocity, heinous sin”,^(Etymonline) [[der|la|ēnormitās|t=hugeness; irregularity]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD) [[der|la|ēnormis|t=irregular, huge]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD) literally “deviating from the norm”.^(Wiktionary) Compare [[enormous]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A breach of law or morality, a crime (1475), and an irregularity or extravagance (1494).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The underlying idea is of something that goes beyond the limits of order, right, or decency.^(Etymonline) From the 1560s the word meant “extreme wickedness”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The sense “hugeness” is etymologically sound,^(Etymonline) but the OED regarded it as incorrect in modern use.^(OED 1989) Meanwhile ''enormousness'', which first meant “immeasurable wickedness” (1718), came to mean “hugeness” around 1800.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1475 – “a breach of law or morality; a crime”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1494 – “an irregularity, extravagance”.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1560s – “extreme or monstrous wickedness”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1765 – “hugeness, vastness”; the OED's first quotation for this sense is from 1792.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Extreme wickedness or outrageousness.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A monstrous offence; an outrage.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Great size, immensity; also great importance, as of a decision.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[enormous]], [[enormousness]]^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+ * [[norm]]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Many people object to ''enormity'' in the neutral sense “great size”, preferring ''enormousness'' or ''immensity'' and keeping ''enormity'' for things that deserve moral condemnation.^(AHD)^(RHWU) 59 percent of the American Heritage Usage Panel rejected the neutral sense in a test sentence.^(AHD) The sense “immensity” has nevertheless been in frequent use since the 18th century and appears regularly in edited writing,^(RHWU) and some usage guides see little basis for the distinction.^(Wiktionary) Writers who apply it to a happy event, such as an election victory or an inheritance, may cause unintended amusement.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}