Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “monstrosity” come from?

Monstrosity comes from Middle English monstruosite, derived from Late Latin monstrositas, which comes from Latin monstrosus meaning abnormal or unnatural.

monstrosity (English): An organism showing abnormal development or...

Definitions

  1. An organism showing abnormal development or...

Ancestry of “monstrosity”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmonstruosite—
2Frenchmonstruositémonstrosity
3Latinmonstruositas—
4Latinmonstruosusstrange, preternatural, monstrous
5Latinmōnstrum—
6Proto-Italicmonestrom—
Every word from Proto-Italic monestrom →