enormous
pronunciation
How to pronounce enormous in British English:
UK [ɪˈnɔːməs]
How to pronounce enormous in American English:
US [ɪˈnɔːrməs]
-
- Adjective:
- extraordinarily large in size or extent or amount or power or degree
Word Origin
- enormous
- enormous: [16] Etymologically, enormous is a parallel formation to abnormal and extraordinary. It comes from Latin ēnormis, a compound adjective formed from the prefix ex- ‘out of’ and norma ‘pattern, rule’ – hence literally ‘out of the usual pattern’. It originally had a range of meanings in English, including ‘abnormal, unusual’ (‘entered the choir in a military habit, and other enormous disguises’, Thomas Warton, History of English Poetry 1774) and ‘outrageous’.By the beginning of the 19th century these had mostly died out, leaving the field clear for modern English ‘huge’, although the notion of ‘outrageousness’ remains in the noun derivative enormity [15].=> abnormal, normal
- enormous (adj.)
- 1530s, "abnormal" (usually in a bad sense), from Latin enormis "out of rule, irregular, shapeless; extraordinary, very large," from assimilated form of ex- "out of" (see ex-) + norma "rule, norm" (see norm), with English -ous substituted for Latin -is. Meaning "extraordinary in size" is attested from 1540s; original sense of "outrageous" is more clearly preserved in enormity. Earlier was enormyous (mid-15c.) "exceedingly great, monstrous." Related: Enormously; enormousness.
Antonym
Example
- 1. The potential of our country is enormous .
- 2. To meet this enormous demand , china will need imports .
- 3. But restricting capital inflows remains an enormous challenge .
- 4. It may provide us with super-clean cars , but we would also have enormous quantities of energy and polluting emissions , linked to producing the hydrogen itself , on our conscience .
- 5. The republicans have taken an enormous gamble .