# prodigal
## English
### 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 prodigy.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈpɹɒdɪɡəl/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/, [ˈpʰɹɑɾɪɡɫ̩]
* Hyphenation: pro‧dig‧al

### Adjective

prodigal (comparative more prodigal, superlative most prodigal)
* Wastefully extravagant.
    Synonyms: lavish, squandering; see also Thesaurus:prodigal
    Antonyms: frugal; see also Thesaurus:frugal
    He found himself guilty of prodigal spending during the holidays.
    The prodigal son spent his share of his inheritance until he was destitute.
** 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 257:The prodigal heir can only waste his own substance, and the punishment falls, as it should, upon himself; but the prince has an awful responsibility,—the welfare of others is required at his hands;...
* (often followed by of or with) Yielding profusely, lavish.
    Synonyms: free, generous, liberal
    She was a merry person, glad and prodigal of smiles.
    How can he be so prodigal with money on such a tight budget?
** 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 63:He generally falls backwards and sometimes succumbs to the fever which ensues; hence as soon as the ordeal is over the women are prodigal of their attentions to him, and rub the swollen arm with a particular kind of herb.
** 1974, James Herriot, Vet in Harness, page 201:Granville poised himself over a vast sirloin, stropped his knife briskly, then began to hack away ruthlessly. He was a prodigal server and piled about two pounds of meat on my plate, then he started on the Yorkshire puddings.
* Profuse, lavishly abundant.
    Synonyms: inordinate, superabundant; see also Thesaurus:abundant, Thesaurus:excessive
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 37, column 2:Goe binde thou vp vond dangling Apricocks, / Which like vnruly Children, make their Syre / Stoupe with oppreſſion of their prodigall weight:
** 1832, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Palace of Art:And one, the reapers at their sultry toil. / In front they bound the sheaves. Behind / Were realms of upland, prodigal in oil, / And hoary to the wind.
* (by allusion to the New Testament story commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son", Luke 15:11–32) Behaving as a prodigal son:
** Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal.
** Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.
*** 2012 August 12, Paul Owen, “London 2012 Olympics: day 10”, in The Guardian‎:Simon Hart of the Daily Telegraph has tweeted that the prodigal triple-jumper has come home, in preparation for tomorrow's qualification round.

#### Derived terms

* prodigal son

#### Translations
### Noun

prodigal (plural prodigals)
* A prodigal person; a spendthrift; a wastrel.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:spendthrift
** 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature B3, recto:Now thinkes he that her husbands ſhallow tongue, / The niggard prodigall that praiſde her ſo: / In that high task hath done her Beauty wrong.
** 1641, Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon men and matter, as they have flowed out of his daily readings, or had their reflux to his peculiar notion of the times; republished as Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems‎, Cassell & Company, 1892:Change into extremity is very frequent and easy. As when a beggar suddenly grows rich, he commonly becomes a prodigal; for, to obscure his former obscurity, he puts on riot and excess.

#### Translations
### Further reading

* “prodigal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “prodigal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “prodigal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.