Enormity
/ɪˈnɔːr.mə.ti/noun
Great or extreme size, seriousness, or wickedness; in modern use, often an outrageous or shocking quality.
Did you know?For centuries, English used *enormity* mainly for shocking wickedness or moral monstrosity, and only later did it drift toward the weaker modern sense of “hugeness.”
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
ēnormis
“Out of rule; irregular; beyond the norm.”
Late Latin
Latin
ēnormitās
“Irregularity, deviation from what is proper.”
14th Century
English
enormite
“Outrageousness, wickedness, or monstrous deviation from order.”
16th-17th Century
English
enormity
“Great wickedness, flagrant offense, or monstrous moral wrong.”
18th-19th Century
English
enormity
“Also used for great size or magnitude, a later sense that became common in modern English.”