每日单词：prodigy

prodigy

英 ['prɒdədʒi] 美 ['prɑːdədʒi]

n.惊人的事物；奇迹；神童；天才

◉词源

15世纪中叶进入英语，源自拉丁语 prodigium（预兆、怪事、奇迹），原指违反自然秩序的异常事件或预兆（如怪胎或天象），16世纪起指“非凡天才”，尤指童年即显露惊人才能的孩子，后固定为“神童”含义。构词成分：前缀 pro-（向前、预先） + 词根 -dig-（说、预言，源自 aio “我说”） + 后缀 -ium（抽象名词）。

◉外刊例句

① 《The New York Times》，2015

Joey Alexander, the most recent child prodigy to be in the news, shows us the positive side of young genius.

乔伊·亚历山大，最近登上新闻的神童，向我们展示了年轻天才的积极一面。

② 《The Guardian》，2025

A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19.

一位数学神童，19岁就从哈佛毕业。

◉经典名著

William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1611

Prodigies are told of him.

关于他的奇迹被传颂。

《David Copperfield》，1850

The child was regarded as a prodigy in the village.

这个孩子在村里被视为神童。

◉ Usage Examples

(1) The man is a prodigy of learning.

(2) Critics were not gammoned by this latest prodigy.

(3) The report of such a prodigy awakened my curiosity.

(4) She was a child prodigy on the violin.

(5) That child prodigy began to compose at the age of five.

(6) John was an extraordinary prodigy.

(1) 此人学识渊博。

(2) 评论家不为最近发生的反常的事所欺骗。

(3) 这些奇迹的传闻，激起了我的好奇心。

(4) 她是神童小提琴手。

(5) 那个神童五岁就开始作诗了。

(6) 约翰是名非凡的天才儿童。

◉ Usage Notes

A prodigy is someone who is so naturally talented at something that they become a master of that particular skill as a child––you can be a musical prodigy or a math prodigy. Mozart was one, writing symphonies and playing for kings when he was only five years old.

Prodigy is one of those wonderful words whose different meanings tell a story about how the meanings of words bloom over time. The word derives from the Latin prodigium, meaning an omen or a sign of something to come. Prodigies are kids who often seem so talented that their success must presage even greater mastery, though, of course, the irony is that most prodigies peak in their youth.

◉柯林斯词典

1[N-COUNT 可数名词]（有音乐、数学或体育等天赋的）天才，奇才，神童 A prodigy is someone young who has a great natural ability for something such as music, mathematics, or sport. [usu supp N]

...a Russian tennis prodigy.

俄罗斯的网球奇才