The Prodigal Son and Language Change

What does the word “prodigal” mean? Go ahead and define the word for yourself before you look up its definition.

How did you define “prodigal” for yourself? If I were a betting man, I’d bet that the first thought that popped into your mind was something along the lines of “wayward,” “gone astray,” or “wandering from the faith.” Am I close to the mark?

Now the funny thing is that if you go looking for a definition of “prodigal,” most of what you will find will be something completely different. For example, the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides these definitions:¹

ADJECTIVE

characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure: LAVISH

recklessly spendthrift

yielding abundantly : LUXURIANT —often used with of

NOUN

one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly

one who has returned after an absence

The Oxford English Dictionary provides more detailed definitions, but still very much in the same vein:²

ADJECTIVE

Extravagant; recklessly wasteful of one’s property or means. Also in extended use.

Wasteful of a resource, possession, asset, etc.

Of a person: that has lived a reckless or extravagant life away from home, but subsequently made a repentant return. Also more generally and figurative: that has gone astray; errant, wayward; wandering. Frequently in prodigal son (also daughter, child), with allusion to Luke 15:11–32 . Also in extended use.

Of a thing, event, action, etc.: wastefully lavish; characterized by or suggestive of reckless extravagance.

That has, gives, or yields something on a lavish scale; generous, copious, abundant.

Having or providing a lavish amount of a resource or quality; generously or abundantly supplied with. Also: extravagant or unrestrained in the provision of something, the performance of an action, etc.

English regional and Welsh English (Pembrokeshire). Proud.

NOUN

A person who spends money extravagantly and wastefully; a spendthrift. Now rare.

A person who is wasteful of money, a resource, possession, asset, etc. Also figurative. Now rare and poetic.

A person who has lived a reckless or extravagant life away from home, but subsequently made a repentant return. Also more generally: a reckless or wayward person; a returned wanderer.

ADVERB

Prodigally, lavishly. Obsolete. rare.

If you’re like me, most of those definitions really just never come to mind when you hear the word “prodigal.” I most often associate the term with someone who is wayward and wandering. And I’m not the only one; there are many books that assume this meaning: Reaching Your Prodigal, Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, and Prayers for Prodigals, just to name a few. But if the primary meanings that the dictionaries give have to do with spending recklessly and lavishly, does that mean that most of us have been using the word incorrectly? Not at all. The word “prodigal” has undergone a semantic shift due to its association with the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son derives its name not from the wandering of the younger son but from his wastefulness. As the parable goes,

After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.
Luke 15:13–14, BSB

The younger son was prodigal with his inheritance, recklessly squandering away his money. This was the original intent of the title “The Prodigal Son.” But English no longer commonly uses the word “prodigal” except when talking about the prodigal son. Our understanding of the word is now shaped not by the specific actions of the son but by the context of the entire parable. The son wandered away, wasted his wealth, came to his senses, and was welcomed home by his father. We are impacted by the father’s memorable words: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24, KJV). The prodigal son was lost and now is found. Naturally then, when the son was wandering and lost he was a prodigal but is one no longer now that he is found. So even though we still refer to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” we now think of its title meaning something slightly different than it once did.

I think it is fair to say that the idea of wasteful, lavish, and reckless spending is barely associated with “prodigal” anymore. Its meaning has shifted such that its primary sense really is the idea of someone who is wandering and wayward. I don’t think the dictionaries have fully caught up to common usage just yet, so it would not surprise me if those other meanings become acknowledged as “rare” or “obsolete” within my lifetime.

The Bible has had an enormous impact on the English language, and in this case, it is directly responsible for a semantic shift. Without the presence of the Bible, it is entirely possible that the word “prodigal” would have either retained its original sense or dropped out of use altogether. But as it is, the Bible has ensured that this word has an enduring, albeit changed, place in the English language.

Notes

Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “prodigal,” accessed 1 February 2025, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prodigal ↩︎
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “prodigal (adj., n., & adv.),” December 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/6130999714. ↩︎