monster

English

/ˈmɒnstə(ɹ)/, /ˈmɑnstɚ/

noun
Definitions
  • A terrifying and dangerous creature.
  • A bizarre or whimsical creature.
  • A cruel or antisocial person, especially a criminal.
  • (medicine) A horribly deformed person.
  • (figuratively) A badly behaved child, a brat.
  • (informal) Something unusually large.
  • (informal) A prodigy; someone very talented in a specific domain.
  • (gaming) A non-player character that player(s) fight against in role-playing games.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English monstre derived from Old French monstre derived from Latin mōnstrum (monster, portent, monstrosity) root from Proto-Indo-European *men- (think, stand out, stay, tower, mountain, stand still, mind, have in mind, project, remember, change, remain, rmemeber, small).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*men-

Gloss

think, stand out, stay, tower, mountain, stand still, mind, have in mind, project, remember, change, remain, rmemeber, small

Concept
Semantic Field

Cognition

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

楼, 塔

Emoji
💭 🤔

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms