Por-tent'ous, a.

a. [Lat. portentosus, It. & Sp. portentoso, O. Fr. portenteux. See supra.] 1. Serving to portend; containing portents; foreshadowing ill; ominous. Victories of strange and almost portentous splendor produced all the consequences of defeat. Macaulay. 2. Hence, monstrous; prodigious; wonderful;—used in a bad sense. No beast of more portentous size In the Hercynian forest lies. Roscommon.