Etymology

abominate

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Today it means: Abominable; detested. Full definition →

First used First attested in the late 16ᵗʰ century.Late Latin abōminātus
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived fromabōminātus
  2. English todayabominate

First attested in 1644. Perhaps a back-formation from abomination. Alternatively, perhaps from Late Latin abōminātus, past participle of abōminarī (“to deprecate as an ill omen”), from ab + ominari (“to forebode, presage”), from omen.

First known use, by meaning

  • First attested in the late 16ᵗʰ century. Abominable; detested.
  • First attested in the mid 17ᵗʰ century. To feel disgust towards; to loathe or detest thoroughly; to hate in the highest degree, as if with religious dread.
  • First attested in the late 19ᵗʰ century. To dislike strongly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.