prodigy

Middle English prodige (“portent”), from Latin prōdigium (“omen, portent, prophetic sign”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒdɪdʒi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑdɪdʒi/
• Hyphenation: prod‧i‧gy

prodigy (plural prodigies)

1. (now rare) An extraordinary thing seen as an omen; a portent. [from 15th c.]
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 87:

     John Foxe believed that special prodigies had heralded the Reformation.

2. An extraordinary occurrence or creature; an anomaly, especially a monster; a freak. [from 16th c.]
3. An amazing or marvellous thing; a wonder. [from 17th c.]
4. A wonderful example of something. [from 17th c.]
5. An extremely talented person, especially a child. [from 17th c.]

• (extremely talented person): wunderkind, girl wonder, girl-genius, boy-genius, boy wonder, child prodigy.

• prodigious

• precocious
• prodigal
• child prodigy
• prodigy house

• prodigy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• prodigy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• prodigy at OneLook Dictionary Search