From Latin 'prodigere' (to drive forth/spend) — means 'wasteful,' though the Prodigal Son parable made many people think it means 'returning.'
Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.
From Latin 'prodigalis' (wasteful), from 'prodigus' (extravagant), from 'prodigere' (to drive forth, spend) — from 'pro-' (forth) + 'agere' (to drive). To be prodigal is to 'drive forth' your wealth — to push your money away from you. Key roots: pro- (Latin: "forth, forward"), agere (Latin: "to drive").
Most people think 'prodigal' means 'returning' because of the Prodigal Son. It doesn't — it means 'wasteful.' The Prodigal Son parable is about a son who squanders his inheritance, not about coming home. Yet the phrase 'prodigal son' has so strongly linked the word with homecoming that many dictionaries now include 'returning after absence' as an informal meaning. A biblical parable about waste accidentally created