Enormity

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɪˈnɔːmɪti/

Definitions

1. The extreme seriousness or scale of something bad or wrong, or simply immense size
2. The quality of being shockingly bad or morally wrong ; the state of being very large or extensive
3. An act or condition that is outrageously evil or severe ; a size or amount that is impressively vast

Etymology: The most striking fact about "enormity" is that its original sense was the opposite of what most people now mean by it. Its Latin root, "ēnōrmis," described something irregular or out of pattern, built from "ē-" (a variant of "ex-," meaning "out" or "away") and "nōrma," a carpenter's or builder's standard, or norm. So the root image is of something that has stepped outside the square, the rule, or the measure. That sense of deviation carried into Middle English as "ēnorme," which could mean a monstrous or unnatural act, and it was this moral sense of transgression that gave the noun its early life. The Old French "énormité" passed the idea along, and the English noun kept that association with wrongdoing that goes beyond the ordinary. Only later did "enormity" drift toward meaning great size, the sense that the word "enormous" now carries. That shift is why many careful writers still object to using "enormity" for sheer bigness, since its traditional force lies in the sense of a dreadful offence against right or norm.

Synonyms: atrocity, immensity

Antonyms: insignificance