English
abominous
Abominous comes from Latin abominosus ‘full of ill omens, portentous, ominous’, from abōminor ‘to deprecate’, and ultimately from Old Latin osmen.
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEosmenearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōmen‘sign, token, omen’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōminor‘forebode, predict, presage’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabōminor‘to deprecate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabominosus‘full of ill omens, portentous, ominous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1647abominous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEosmenearlier origin unknown
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōmen‘sign, token, omen’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōminor‘forebode, predict, presage’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabōminor‘to deprecate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabominosus‘full of ill omens, portentous, ominous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1647abominous
Earliest quotation: 1647, John Cleaveland: “Yet here's not all, I cannot halfe untruſs Et…”
Linked words
through Latin ōmen ‘sign, token, omen’
Today it means
adj Abominable, detestable, execrable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Latin osmen / abominous