monstrum

See also: Monstrum

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *monestrom. Equivalent to moneō (“advise, warn”) +‎ -trum (suffix forming instrument nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmon.strum/, [ˈmõːs̠t̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmon.strum/, [ˈmɔnst̪rum]

• Audio (Classical Latin, educated guess):

  (file)

Noun

mōnstrum n (genitive mōnstrī); second declension

1. (fantasy, mythology) a divine omen indicating misfortune, an evil omen, portent
2. (metonymically) a monster, monstrosity, whether in size or character
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.244–245:

     “Īnstāmus tamen inmemorēs caecīque furōre,
     et mōnstrum īnfēlīx sacrātā sistimus arce.”

     “We press on nevertheless, heedless, and blinded by passion, and we set the accursed monster on our sacred citadel.”
     (Despite repeated difficulties and multiple warning signs the Trojans move the wooden horse into the city.)

3. (figuratively) a thing that evokes fear and wonder

   Synonyms: ostentum, prōdigium, portentum, mīrāculum, mīrum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	mōnstrum	mōnstra
genitive	mōnstrī	mōnstrōrum
dative	mōnstrō	mōnstrīs
accusative	mōnstrum	mōnstra
ablative	mōnstrō	mōnstrīs
vocative	mōnstrum	mōnstra

Derived terms

• mōnstrō
• mōnstrōsus/ mōnstruōsus
• mostellum

Descendants

Descendants

• Catalan: monstre
• → Esperanto: monstro
• Galician: monstro
• Italian: mostro
• Old French: monstre, mostre, moustre
  • → Middle English: monstre, moustre
    • English: monster
    • Scots: monster
  • Middle French: monstre
    • French: monstre
      • → Romanian: monstru
  • Norman: monstre
  • → Middle Dutch: monster
    • Dutch: monster
• Portuguese: monstro
• Spanish: monstruo
• → Albanian: moshtrë, monstër

References

• “monstrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “monstrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• monstrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• monstrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) extravagant fictions of fancy: opinionum commenta, ineptiae, monstra, portenta
    
  • (ambiguous) marvellous ideas; prodigies: monstra or portenta
    
  • (ambiguous) it is incredible: monstra dicis, narras
    

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

monstrum

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin mōnstrum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔn.strum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔnstrum
• Syllabification: mon‧strum

Noun

monstrum n

1. monster (terrifying and dangerous creature)

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	monstrum	monstra
genitive	monstrum	monstrów
dative	monstrum	monstrom
accusative	monstrum	monstra
instrumental	monstrum	monstrami
locative	monstrum	monstrach
vocative	monstrum	monstra

Declension of monstrum

Derived terms

(adjective):

• monstrualny

Related terms

(adverb):

• monstrualnie

(noun):

• monstrualność

Further reading

• monstrum in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• monstrum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mōnstrum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mǒŋstrum/
• Hyphenation: mon‧strum

Noun

mònstrum m (Cyrillic spelling мо̀нструм)

1. monster

   Synonyms: čudovište, nȅmān

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	monstrum	monstrumi
genitive	monstruma	monstruma
dative	monstrumu	monstrumima
accusative	monstruma	monstrume
vocative	monstrume	monstrumi
locative	monstrumu	monstrumima
instrumental	monstrumom	monstrumima

Declension of monstrum

Further reading

• “monstrum”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025