monstrous

the word monstrous traces its lineage to the latin noun 'monstrum', which originally denoted a divine sign or omen, often one foretelling misfortune. this sense evolved to mean a prodigy or unnatural creature, a monster, because such beings were seen as ominous signs. the adjective-forming suffix '-osus' (full of) was added, creating the late latin 'monstrosus', meaning abnormal or unnatural. entering english via old french, the term retained the core idea of deviation from the natural order, broadening from describing physical abnormality to encompassing anything shockingly large, evil, or morally deformed.