# prodigious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/ · frequency rank #32,136

## Definitions
1. Extraordinarily amazing.
2. Extraordinarily amazing.
3. Extraordinarily amazing.
4. Very big in extent, quantity, or size; abundant; intense; colossal, huge.
5. Having the nature of an omen or portent; ominous, portentous.

## Etymology
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-der.
Proto-Indo-European *-h₃d-s-o-?
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

## Common misspellings (14)
`pordigious`, `pprodigious`, `prdoigious`, `proddigious`, `prodgiious`, `prodiggious`, `prodigiosu`, `prodigiouss`, `prodigiuos`, `prodigoius`, `prodiigous`, `proidgious`, `prrodigious`, `rpodigious`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/prodigious