Etymograph

English

ominous

Ominous comes from Latin ōminōsus ‘full of foreboding’, from ōmen ‘forbidden fruit, omen’, and ultimately from Old Latin osmen.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEosmen
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōmen‘forbidden fruit, omen’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōminōsus‘full of foreboding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1911ominous

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEosmen
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōmen‘forbidden fruit, omen’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōminōsus‘full of foreboding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1911ominous

Earliest quotation: 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: “In Cornouaille, Brittany, it is popularly believed that the…”

The story

From Latin ōminōsus (‘full of foreboding’), from ōmen (‘forbidden fruit, omen’), from Old Latin osmen, of uncertain origin, with many origins proposed (see ōmen).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Latin ōmen ‘forbidden fruit, omen’

omen, abomination, 3 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to an omen or to omens; being or exhibiting an omen; significant.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old Latin osmen / ominous

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