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prodigal

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/

The English word “prodigal” has 6 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Wastefully extravagant.
  2. Yielding profusely, lavish.
  3. Profuse, lavishly abundant.
  4. Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal.
  5. Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.

noun

  1. A prodigal person; a spendthrift; a wastrel.

Etymology

From Middle French prodigal, from Late Latin prōdigālis (“wasteful”), from Latin prōdigus (“wasteful, lavish, prodigal”), from prōdigō (“to consume, squander, drive forth”), from prōd- [from prō (“before, forward”)] + agō (“to drive”). Also see unrelated prodigy. The senses of "abandoning a person or cause" and "returning after abandonment" are by allusion to the New Testament story commonly…

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