Prodigious Meaning

/pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjExtraordinarily amazing.

adjExtraordinarily amazing., In a positive sense: marvellous, wonderful; (specifically) extremely talented, especially at a young age.

The number of English words exceeds twenty times Shakespeare's prodigious vocabulary.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist created a ____ sculpture that weighed over ten tons and stood fifty feet tall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The child displayed a ____ talent for mathematics, solving complex equations at the age of six.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁ǵyéti Proto-Italic *agjō Latin aiō Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ium Latin prōdigium Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ōtsos or *-otsos Latin -ōsus Latin prōdigiōsusbor. Middle English prodigious English prodigious The adjective is derived from Late Middle English prodigious (“warning of disaster, portentous”), from Latin prōdigiōsus (“strange, unnatural; marvellous, wonderful, prodigious”), from prōdigium (“prophetic sign, omen, portent; prodigy, wonder”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of’ forming adjectives from nouns). Prōdigium is derived from prō- (prefix denoting a forward direction, something before or prior, or prominence) + aiō (“to say, speak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- (“to say”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analysable as prodigy + -ous. The adverb is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Catalan prodigiós * Middle French prodigieux (“portentous”) (modern French prodigieux) * Italian prodigioso * Portuguese prodigioso * Spanish prodigioso

"VVhat am I? Old! or a Monſter! Is it ſo prodigious, that a Man ſhou'd like me?" — [1707], [Colley] Cibber, The Double Gallant: Or, The Sick Lady’s Cure. A Comedy. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott, […]; and sold by John Phillips, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene [i], page 23:
"Prodigious! […] VVhat in the Name of VVonder hath brought you to England?" — 1730, [Henry Fielding], Rape upon Rape; or, The Justice Caught in His Own Trap. A Comedy. […], London: […] J. Wat[t]s, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene v, page 33:
"Prodigious! hovv the Things Proteſt, Proteſt: / Peace, Fools! or Gonſon vvill for Papiſts ſeize you, / If once he catch you at your Jeſu! Jeſu!" — 1733, “an Eminent Hand” [pseudonym; Alexander Pope], The Impertinent, or A Visit to the Court. A Satyr. […], London: […] John Wil[f]ord, […], →OCLC, page 15:
"'[T]is a marvel of marvels that this man should be a mighty King and ready for war, after his slaughter of all the wise men of his kingdom and his counsellors and the captains of his host and that his realm should be populous and prosper after this and there should issue therefrom this prodigious power!" — 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “The Francolin and the Tortoises. [Night 927.]”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume IX, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC, page 125:
"A prodigious quantity of insects of all sorts (but no mosquitoes) assailed us at our evening meal." — 1930, André Gide, “Back Again”, in Dorothy Bussy, transl., Travels in the Congo […], red seal edition, New York, N.Y.: Modern Age Books, published 1937, →OCLC, part 2 (Back from the Chad), page 194:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist created a ____ sculpture that weighed over ten tons and stood fifty feet tall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The child displayed a ____ talent for mathematics, solving complex equations at the age of six.

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