English
prodigality
Prodigality comes from Late Latin prodigalitas ‘prodigality, profligacy, wastefulness’, and goes back to Latin prōdigus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdigus1‘wasteful, lavish, prodigal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdigālis2‘prodigal, lavish, profligate’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprodigalitas3‘prodigality, profligacy, wastefulness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prodigalite3
- Englishearliest quotation 1831prodigality3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin prodigalis
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin prodigalitas
- 3 Wiktionary, English prodigality
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “The plain where he was riding was one immense…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdigusWiktionary, Latin prodigalis‘wasteful, lavish, prodigal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdigālisWiktionary, Latin prodigalitas‘prodigal, lavish, profligate’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprodigalitasWiktionary, English prodigality‘prodigality, profligacy, wastefulness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prodigaliteWiktionary, English prodigality
- Englishearliest quotation 1831prodigalityWiktionary, English prodigality. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “The plain where he was riding was one immense…”
Formed from prodigal + -ity
Latin prōdigō ‘to consume, squander, drive forth’
Latin prōdigus ‘wasteful, lavish, prodigal’
Late Latin prōdigālis ‘wasteful’
Middle French prodigal
English prodigal
Every English word from Latin prōdigus
Today it means
noun Wasteful extravagance.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin prōdigus / prodigality