prodigium

Latin

Etymology

From prō- (prefix denoting a forward direction, something before or prior, or prominence) +‎ aiō (“to say, speak”) +‎ -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns); compare and contrast with adagiō, later adagium, more likely of different formation.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /proːˈdi.ɡi.um/, [proːˈd̪ɪɡiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /proˈdi.d͡ʒi.um/, [proˈd̪iːd͡ʒium]

Noun

prōdigium n (genitive prōdigiī or prōdigī); second declension

1. omen, portent, prophetic sign
2. prodigy, wonder

   Synonyms: mōnstrum, ostentum, portentum, mīrāculum, mīrum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	prōdigium	prōdigia
Genitive	prōdigiī prōdigī1	prōdigiōrum
Dative	prōdigiō	prōdigiīs
Accusative	prōdigium	prōdigia
Ablative	prōdigiō	prōdigiīs
Vocative	prōdigium	prōdigia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

• Catalan: prodigi
• French: prodige
• Italian: prodigio
• Portuguese: prodígio
• Romanian: prodigiu
• Spanish: prodigio

References

• “prodigium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “prodigium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• prodigium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to avert by expiatory sacrifices the effect of ominous portents: prodigia procurare (Liv. 22. 1)
    
• “prodigium”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “prodigium”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN