Sign of the Times

An article in Monday's New York Times about France's presidential elections was of particular interest to me not because of the content, but because of one word: enormousness. The article read:

The enormousness of the turnout was reflected in another statistic: By 5 p.m., 74 percent of France’s registered voters had cast their ballots — higher than the total percentage participation in the first round of the 2002 contest.

At first glance it may seem an odd choice of words, however, it is actually precise. I bring this to light because I previously blogged about the commonly misused word enormity, and I was glad to see enormousness in print. To reiterate, while it would seem as though enormousness and enormity are interchangeable because they vary only slightly (as with the synonyms audacity and audaciousness), the significance of the terms differs enormously. What follows is the definition of enormity from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language:

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. e·nor·mi·ties
1. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness. 2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage. 3. Usage Problem Great size; immensity: “Beyond that, [Russia's] sheer enormity offered a defense against invaders that no European nation enjoyed” (W. Bruce Lincoln).

USAGE NOTE: Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment, as in Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot's oppression. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the sentence At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. This distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed historically, but nowadays many observe it. Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President's election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter.

In contrast, the noun enormousness is defined by Dictionary.com as "very great or abnormal size, bulk, degree, etc.; immensity; hugeness." The New York Times got it right. What an enormous relief.