PROD'IGY, noun [Latin prodigium, from prodigo, to shoot out, drive out, properly to spread to a great extent. 1. Any thing out of the ordinary process of nature, as so extraordinary as to excite wonder or astonishment; as a prodigy of learning. 2. Something extraordinary from which omens are drawn; portent. Thus eclipses and meteors were anciently deemed prodigies. 3. A monster; an animal or other production out of the ordinary course of nature.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI