prodigy
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English prodige (“portent”), from Latin prōdigium (“omen, portent, prophetic sign”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɒdɪdʒi/
Audio (UK) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɑdɪdʒi/
- Hyphenation: prod‧i‧gy
Noun[edit]
prodigy (plural prodigies)
- (now rare) An extraordinary thing seen as an omen; a portent. [from 15th c.]
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 87:
- John Foxe believed that special prodigies had heralded the Reformation.
- 1715, Homer, Iliad, translated by Alexander Pope, Book XII:
- These on the farther bank now stood and gazed,
By Heaven alarm’d, by prodigies amazed:
A signal omen stopp’d the passing host,
Their martial fury in their wonder lost.
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 87:
- An extraordinary occurrence or creature; an anomaly, especially a monster; a freak. [from 16th c.]
- An amazing or marvellous thing; a wonder. [from 17th c.]
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 32, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299, page 153:
- He is never chased; he would run away with rope-walks of line. Prodigies are told of him.
- A wonderful example of something. [from 17th c.]
- An extremely talented person, especially a child. [from 17th c.]
Synonyms[edit]
- (extremely talented person): wunderkind, girl wonder, girl-genius, boy-genius, boy wonder, child prodigy.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
something from which omens are drawn
amazing or marvelous thing
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wonderful example of something
extremely talented person, especially a child
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See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- prodigy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- prodigy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- prodigy at OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *per-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eǵ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
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