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heteroclite

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: hétéroclite

English

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Etymology

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From Late Latin heteroclitus, from Ancient Greek ἑτερόκλιτος (heteróklitos), from ἕτερος (héteros, other, another, different) + κλίνω (klínō, lean, incline), the latter from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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heteroclite (comparative more heteroclite, superlative most heteroclite)

  1. (grammar) Irregularly declined or inflected.
  2. (dated) Deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric, abnormal.
    • 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Penguin, published 2003, page 24:
      he was, on the contrary, as mercurial and sublimated a composition, [] as heteroclite a creature in all his declensions; [] with as much life and whim, and gaité de cœur about him, as the kindliest climate could have engendered and put together.
    • 1987, Gene Wolfe, chapter XLVIII, in The Urth of the New Sun, 1st US edition, New York: Tor Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 281:
      Nor could I have dreamed the heteroclite crew-men I had met aboard Tzadkiel's ship []

Translations

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See also

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Noun

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heteroclite (plural heteroclites)

  1. (grammar) An irregularly declined or inflected word.
  2. (linguistics) A word whose etymological roots come from distinct, different languages or language groups.
  3. A person who is unconventional; a maverick.

Synonyms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Latin

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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heteroclite

  1. vocative masculine singular of heteroclitus