Etymology

monster

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Today it means: A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind. Full definition →

Middle English monstre ← Old French monstre ← Latin mōnstrum
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*monéyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*man-eje-
  4. Proto-Italic*moneō
  5. Proto-Italic*monestrom
  6. Latinmōnstrum
  7. Old Frenchmonstre
  8. Middle Englishmonstre
  9. English todaymonster

From Middle English monstre, from Old French monstre, mostre, moustre, from Latin mōnstrum. Displaced native Old English fīfel and Old English þyrs.

Words from the same roots

Latinmōnstrum all →

hippopotomonstrosesquipedalianhippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.