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por·ten·tous (pôr-tĕntəs)
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adj.
1. Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding: "The present aspect of society is portentous of great change" (Edward Bellamy).
2. Full of unspecifiable significance; exciting wonder and awe: "Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity" (Herman Melville).
3. Marked by pompousness; pretentiously weighty.
por·tentous·ly adv.
por·tentous·ness n.
Usage Note: The last syllable of portentous is properly pronounced (-təs). However, under the influence of words like contentious and pretentious, sometimes this word is pronounced (pôr-tĕnshəs), as though it were spelled portentious. Both the (-shəs) pronunciation and the spelling with the i (which is occasionally seen in print) are widely considered to be mistakes.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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