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Origin and history of monster

monster(n.)

early 14c., monstre, "malformed animal or human, creature afflicted with a birth defect," from Old French monstre, mostre "monster, monstrosity" (12c.), and directly from Latin monstrum "divine omen (especially one indicating misfortune), portent, sign; abnormal shape; monster, monstrosity," figuratively "repulsive character, object of dread, awful deed, abomination," a derivative of monere "to remind, bring to (one's) recollection, tell (of); admonish, advise, warn, instruct, teach," from PIE *moneie- "to make think of, remind," suffixed (causative) form of root *men- (1) "to think."

Abnormal or prodigious animals were regarded as signs or omens of impending evil. Extended by late 14c. to fabulous animals composed of parts of creatures (centaur, griffin, etc.). Meaning "animal of vast size" is from 1520s; sense of "person of inhuman cruelty or wickedness, person regarded with horror because of moral deformity" is from 1550s. As an adjective, "of extraordinary size," from 1837. In Old English, the monster Grendel was an aglæca, a word related to aglæc "calamity, terror, distress, oppression." Monster movie "movie featuring a monster as a leading element," is by 1958 (monster film is from 1941).

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to monster

demonstrable(adj.)

"capable of being proved or made evident beyond doubt," c. 1400, from Old French demonstrable and directly from Latin demonstrabilis, from demonstrare "to point out, indicate, demonstrate," figuratively, "to prove, establish," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + monstrare "to point out, show," from monstrum "divine omen, wonder" (see monster). Related: Demonstrably.

demonstrate(v.)

1550s, "point out, indicate, exhibit," a sense now obsolete, from Latin demonstratus, past participle of demonstrare "point out, indicate, demonstrate," figuratively, "prove, establish," from de- "entirely" (see de-) + monstrare "point out, show," from monstrum "divine omen, wonder" (see monster), and compare demonstration.

The meaning "point out or establish the truth of by argument or deduction" is from 1570s. The sense of "describe and explain scientifically by specimens or experiment" is from 1680s. The meaning "take part in a public demonstration in the name of some political or social cause" is by 1888. Related: Demonstrated; demonstrating.

Latin also had commonstrare "point out, reveal," praemonstrare "show beforehand, foretell."

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Trends of monster

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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demonstration

late 14c., demonstracioun, "proof that something is true," by reasoning or logical deduction or practical experiment, from Old French demonstration (14c.) and directly from Latin demonstrationem (nominative demonstratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of demonstrare "t

muster

early 14c., moustren, "to display, reveal, to show or demonstrate" (senses now obsolete), also "to appear, be present," from Old French mostrer "appear, show, reveal," also in a military sense (10c., Modern French montrer), from Latin monstrare "to show," from monstrum "omen, sig

remonstrance

late 15c., "an appeal, request," a sense now obsolete, from Old French remonstrance (15c., Modern French remontrance), from Medieval Latin remonstrantia, from present-participle stem of remonstrare "point out, show," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + Latin m

hippocampus

c. 1600, a kind of sea monster, part horse and part dolphin or fish, often pictured pulling Neptune's chariot, from Late...Latin hippocampus, from Greek hippokampos, from hippos "horse" (from PIE root *ekwo- "horse") + kampos "a sea monster," which...

Scratch

in Old Scratch "the Devil," 1740, a variant of Middle English Scrat, scratte "monster, goblin" (mid-13c. in place names),...which is probably from Old Norse skratte "goblin, wizard," probably originally "monster" (compare Old High German scraz,...

monstrosity

collateral form of monstruosus (source of French monstruosité), from monstrum "divine omen, portent, sign; abnormal shape; monster...Meaning "a monster" is attested from 1640s....

Frankenstein

Commonly taken (mistakenly) as the proper name of the monster, not the creator, and thus franken- extended by 1980s as a...Frankenstein is the creator-victim; the creature-despot & fatal creation is Frankenstein's monster....

ogre

"man-eating giant of fairy tales and popular legends," 1713, hogre (in a translation of a French version of the Arabian Nights), from French ogre, first used in Perrault's "Contes," 1697, and perhaps formed by him from a dialectal variant of Italian orco "demon, monster," from La

gore

"thick, clotted blood," Old English gor "dirt, dung, filth, shit," a Germanic word (cognates: Middle Dutch goor "filth, mud;" Old Norse gor "cud;" Old High German gor "animal dung"), of uncertain origin. Sense of "clotted blood" (especially shed in battle) developed by 1560s (gor

ergo

c. 1400, from Latin ergo "therefore, in consequence of," possibly contracted from *e rogo "from the direction of," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + noun from regere "to direct, to guide" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line," with derivatives meaning "to direct in a straight

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