portentousadj.

Brit.

/pɔːˈtɛntəs/, U.S.

/pɔrˈtɛn(t)əs/

Forms:

α. late Middle English–1800s portentuous.

β. 1500s– portentous.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French portentueux; Latin portentōsus, portentuōsus.

Etymology: < Middle French portentueux (c1355), Middle French, French portenteux (1557; now rare) extraordinary, monstrous, prodigious, and its etymon classical Latin portentōsus, also portentuōsus (compare -uōsus -uous suffix) strange, unnatural, monstrous, marvellous < portentum portent n. + -ōsus -ous suffix. Compare Catalan portentós (1561), Spanish portentoso (1582), Portuguese portentoso (a1632), Italian portentoso (1525). Compare monstrous adj., monstruous adj.In classical Latin variation between the two forms, portentōsus and portentuōsus, is seen already in the oldest manuscripts, but the (probably original) form portentōsus appears to have been preferred by Cicero and other authors of the classical period.

1. Having the nature or quality of a portent; ominous, threatening.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [adjective]

prognosticate?a1425

prognostical?a1450

prognostaticc1475

portentousc1487

presagiousc1487

prodigiousc1487

prodigial1548

portending1560

augural1568

presaging1592

ominous1593

boding1594

portentive1594

prognostic1603

presageful1606

prognosticous1607

ostentful1608

prognosticant1619

predictious1631

portentful1633

ominal1651

ominating1663

bodeful1813

portentious1863

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [adjective] > of evil omen

portentousc1487

shrewd1577

sinister1579

luckless1584

fatal1590

portentive1594

inauspicious1599

misboding1607

mal-ominous1612

ill-bodinga1616

unauspiciousa1616

portentful1633

ill-aboding1635

ill-omened1685

c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica v. 343 What beestis sauage of nature and wylde wormys in those parties moost habounde, wyth all other monstruous thynges & portentuous wondres.

?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 86^v Such portentuous miracles then seene in Rome.

1618 T. Gainsford True Hist. P. Warbeck 23 To tell you of any signes, wonders, prodegies, prophesies, dreames, deuises, forewarnings, or portentous accidents.

1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 57 Let the Astrologer be dismay'd at the portentous blaze of comets.

1708 Brit. Apollo 26–31 Mar. Actual Bleeding must needs be more Portentuous than a meer Dream.

1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 58 Fires from beneath, and meteors from above, Portentous, unexampled, unexplain'd.

1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. iii. 32 There is something portentous in this sudden change.

1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe ii. §66. 81 The event loses from thenceforth much of its portentous significance.

1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood iv. iii. 359 Enormously portentous it was to them, and yet it was no more than a trivial coincidence.

1990 A. S. Byatt Possession xix. 367 She sounded portentous, like a sibyl.

2. Prodigious, marvellous; monstrous, extraordinary. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > [adjective]

monitoryc1475

warning1552

portentous1553

forewarning1576

admonitory1577

cautionary1638

premonitory1647

precautionary1648

noutheticala1652

cautional1656

cautioning1747

monitorial1816

pre-warning1892

heads up1979

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge > and amazing

ferlya1400

wonderfulc1540

stupendiousa1549

portentous1553

stupenduous1610

stupendous1618

stupend1621

tremendous1813

awesome1838

devastating1889

dizzy1896

doozy1903

staggering1934

eyewatering1950

zonking great1958

stonking1980

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [adjective] > with quality of strangeness

selcouthc888

uncouthc900

sellya1000

ferly?c1225

strangec1374

nicec1395

ferlifula1400

monsterfulc1460

portentous1553

miraculous1569

vengible1594

strangefula1618

phenomenous1743

phenomenala1850

very like a whale1859

weird and wonderful1859

fourth-dimensional1902

out of this world1941

unreal1965

1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Kvj A foure foted beast of monstrous shape..hauinge..beneath his comon belye, an other belye lyke vnto a purse or bagge, in which he kepeth his yonge whelpes... This portentous beast with her three whelpes was broughte to Ciuile.

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 159 A towne of such portentous byggenes.

1607 Bp. J. King Serm. Oxon 5 Nov. 23 So nefarious, flagitious, portentuous a wickednesse, as this was.

1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. xix. 261 By such portentous and extravagant numbers.

1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 157 Such a Deluge..would require a portentous quantity of Water.

1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xi. 704 There huge Orion of portentous size, Swift thro' the gloom a Giant-hunter flies.

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 252 See whether we can discover in..their schemes the portentous ability, which may justify these bold undertakers.

1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing i. 4 Since that portentuous period, the wealth of our happy country has..increased.

1877 W. E. Gladstone in 19th Cent. Aug. 155 Russia will have to make..a portentous effort, when she is to leap from Constantinople to Calcutta.

3. Overstated, grandiloquent; pretentious, pompous.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pride > pomposity > [adjective]

pompousc1375

buggish1536

biga1568

bug1567

braving1600

large1608

farceda1616

budge1637

bulky1672

fastuose1674

portentous1805

highfalutin1839

heavy1849

portentious1859

ventose1867

falutin1921

pound-noteish1936

pomposo1960

stuffed-shirted1977

1805 W. Gifford in P. Massinger Plays IV. 269 If such portentous lines as these may be introduced without reason, and without authority, there is an end of all editorship.

1893 Dict. Nat. Biogr. at Marshall, Stephen His initials supplied the first letters of the portentous name ‘Smectymnuus’.

1922 St. Nicholas July 993/2 Of microscopic size, the foe of the citrus-fly staggers under the portentous name of Prospatella Lahorensis.

1992 Newsweek 28 Dec. 57/3 Big and portentous, ‘Hoffa’ feels like a series of acting exercises inflated to epic proportions.

2005 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Feb. (Saturday pages) 28 There is hasty writing throughout, some painfully portentous dialogue and bizarre infelicities of style.

Derivatives

porˈtentousness n.

ΚΠ

1731 Dyche's Spelling Dict. (ed. 3) Portentousness.

1732 T. Woolston Old Apol. Truth Christian Relig. 60 Pilate was an old-principled Roman about Miracles and Prodigies, and no Sceptick or Infidel about the Significancy and Portentousness of them.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xiv. 70 That Himmalehan, salt-sea Mastodon, clothed with such portentousness of unconscious power.

1946 ‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes vi. 62 She could see it: a thick tome full of portmanteau words and portentousness.

2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 13 Jan. 46/4 As with many an ancient epic, this one veers between a faux-biblical portentousness and excruciating attempts at casualness.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	portentous
释义	portentousadj. Brit. /pɔːˈtɛntəs/, U.S. /pɔrˈtɛn(t)əs/ Forms: α. late Middle English–1800s portentuous. β. 1500s– portentous. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French portentueux; Latin portentōsus, portentuōsus. Etymology: < Middle French portentueux (c1355), Middle French, French portenteux (1557; now rare) extraordinary, monstrous, prodigious, and its etymon classical Latin portentōsus, also portentuōsus (compare -uōsus -uous suffix) strange, unnatural, monstrous, marvellous < portentum portent n. + -ōsus -ous suffix. Compare Catalan portentós (1561), Spanish portentoso (1582), Portuguese portentoso (a1632), Italian portentoso (1525). Compare monstrous adj., monstruous adj.In classical Latin variation between the two forms, portentōsus and portentuōsus, is seen already in the oldest manuscripts, but the (probably original) form portentōsus appears to have been preferred by Cicero and other authors of the classical period. 1. Having the nature or quality of a portent; ominous, threatening. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [adjective] prognosticate?a1425 prognostical?a1450 prognostaticc1475 portentousc1487 presagiousc1487 prodigiousc1487 prodigial1548 portending1560 augural1568 presaging1592 ominous1593 boding1594 portentive1594 prognostic1603 presageful1606 prognosticous1607 ostentful1608 prognosticant1619 predictious1631 portentful1633 ominal1651 ominating1663 bodeful1813 portentious1863 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > an omen, sign, portent > [adjective] > of evil omen portentousc1487 shrewd1577 sinister1579 luckless1584 fatal1590 portentive1594 inauspicious1599 misboding1607 mal-ominous1612 ill-bodinga1616 unauspiciousa1616 portentful1633 ill-aboding1635 ill-omened1685 c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica v. 343 What beestis sauage of nature and wylde wormys in those parties moost habounde, wyth all other monstruous thynges & portentuous wondres. ?1573 L. Lloyd Pilgrimage of Princes f. 86^v Such portentuous miracles then seene in Rome. 1618 T. Gainsford True Hist. P. Warbeck 23 To tell you of any signes, wonders, prodegies, prophesies, dreames, deuises, forewarnings, or portentous accidents. 1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 57 Let the Astrologer be dismay'd at the portentous blaze of comets. 1708 Brit. Apollo 26–31 Mar. Actual Bleeding must needs be more Portentuous than a meer Dream. 1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 58 Fires from beneath, and meteors from above, Portentous, unexampled, unexplain'd. 1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. iii. 32 There is something portentous in this sudden change. 1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe ii. §66. 81 The event loses from thenceforth much of its portentous significance. 1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood iv. iii. 359 Enormously portentous it was to them, and yet it was no more than a trivial coincidence. 1990 A. S. Byatt Possession xix. 367 She sounded portentous, like a sibyl. 2. Prodigious, marvellous; monstrous, extraordinary. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > [adjective] monitoryc1475 warning1552 portentous1553 forewarning1576 admonitory1577 cautionary1638 premonitory1647 precautionary1648 noutheticala1652 cautional1656 cautioning1747 monitorial1816 pre-warning1892 heads up1979 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge > and amazing ferlya1400 wonderfulc1540 stupendiousa1549 portentous1553 stupenduous1610 stupendous1618 stupend1621 tremendous1813 awesome1838 devastating1889 dizzy1896 doozy1903 staggering1934 eyewatering1950 zonking great1958 stonking1980 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [adjective] > with quality of strangeness selcouthc888 uncouthc900 sellya1000 ferly?c1225 strangec1374 nicec1395 ferlifula1400 monsterfulc1460 portentous1553 miraculous1569 vengible1594 strangefula1618 phenomenous1743 phenomenala1850 very like a whale1859 weird and wonderful1859 fourth-dimensional1902 out of this world1941 unreal1965 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Kvj A foure foted beast of monstrous shape..hauinge..beneath his comon belye, an other belye lyke vnto a purse or bagge, in which he kepeth his yonge whelpes... This portentous beast with her three whelpes was broughte to Ciuile. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 159 A towne of such portentous byggenes. 1607 Bp. J. King Serm. Oxon 5 Nov. 23 So nefarious, flagitious, portentuous a wickednesse, as this was. 1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. xix. 261 By such portentous and extravagant numbers. 1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 157 Such a Deluge..would require a portentous quantity of Water. 1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xi. 704 There huge Orion of portentous size, Swift thro' the gloom a Giant-hunter flies. 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 252 See whether we can discover in..their schemes the portentous ability, which may justify these bold undertakers. View more context for this quotation 1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing i. 4 Since that portentuous period, the wealth of our happy country has..increased. 1877 W. E. Gladstone in 19th Cent. Aug. 155 Russia will have to make..a portentous effort, when she is to leap from Constantinople to Calcutta. 3. Overstated, grandiloquent; pretentious, pompous. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pride > pomposity > [adjective] pompousc1375 buggish1536 biga1568 bug1567 braving1600 large1608 farceda1616 budge1637 bulky1672 fastuose1674 portentous1805 highfalutin1839 heavy1849 portentious1859 ventose1867 falutin1921 pound-noteish1936 pomposo1960 stuffed-shirted1977 1805 W. Gifford in P. Massinger Plays IV. 269 If such portentous lines as these may be introduced without reason, and without authority, there is an end of all editorship. 1893 Dict. Nat. Biogr. at Marshall, Stephen His initials supplied the first letters of the portentous name ‘Smectymnuus’. 1922 St. Nicholas July 993/2 Of microscopic size, the foe of the citrus-fly staggers under the portentous name of Prospatella Lahorensis. 1992 Newsweek 28 Dec. 57/3 Big and portentous, ‘Hoffa’ feels like a series of acting exercises inflated to epic proportions. 2005 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Feb. (Saturday pages) 28 There is hasty writing throughout, some painfully portentous dialogue and bizarre infelicities of style. Derivatives porˈtentousness n. ΚΠ 1731 Dyche's Spelling Dict. (ed. 3) Portentousness. 1732 T. Woolston Old Apol. Truth Christian Relig. 60 Pilate was an old-principled Roman about Miracles and Prodigies, and no Sceptick or Infidel about the Significancy and Portentousness of them. 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xiv. 70 That Himmalehan, salt-sea Mastodon, clothed with such portentousness of unconscious power. 1946 ‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes vi. 62 She could see it: a thick tome full of portmanteau words and portentousness. 2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 13 Jan. 46/4 As with many an ancient epic, this one veers between a faux-biblical portentousness and excruciating attempts at casualness. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.c1487
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