enormous

Where does the word "enormous" come from? It comes from Latin enormis, and was adopted directly into English (1530s).

Enormous’s story begins in Latin: enormis meant “irregular, huge.” 'e-', out of, plus 'norma', rule, the root of 'normal'. It reached English by 1530s as enormous. 'enormity' kept the older sense of wickedness. Today, enormous means very large.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient enormis "irregular, huge", 'e-', out of, plus 'norma', rule, the root of 'normal'.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1530s enormous "abnormal; huge", 'enormity' kept the older sense of wickedness.