bonanza

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A rich mine or vein of silver or gold.
  2. The point at which two mother lodes intersect.
  3. Anything which is a great source of wealth or yields a large income or return.
name
  1. A city in Klamath County, Oregon, United States.

Pronunciation

/bəˈnæn.zə/ en-us-bonanza.ogg

Word forms

bonanza bonanzas

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *melh₂-der. Ancient Greek μᾰλᾰκός (mălăkós) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek μᾰλᾰκῐ́ᾱ (mălăkĭ́ā)bor. Latin malacia ▲ Latin bonusinflu. Vulgar Latin *bonacia Spanish bonanzabor. English bonanza Borrowed from Spanish bonanza (“dead calm, fair weather, good luck, rich lode”), from Vulgar Latin *bonacia (“lull, dead calm”), in turn from Latin malacia (“calm sea”), influenced by bonus (“good”) under the false impression that initial mal- is a derivate of malus (“bad”).

Synonyms

Antonyms

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