heteroclite
See also: hétéroclite
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Adjective edit
heteroclite (comparative more heteroclite, superlative most heteroclite)
- (grammar) Irregularly declined or inflected.
- (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 edit
eccentric, abnormal
|
irregularly declined
|
See also edit
Noun edit
heteroclite (plural heteroclites)
- (grammar) An irregularly declined or inflected word.
- (linguistics) A word whose etymological roots come from distinct, different languages or language groups.
- A person who is unconventional; a maverick.
Synonyms edit
- (unconventional person): free spirit, individualist, nonconformist; see also Thesaurus:maverick
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “heteroclite”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “heteroclite, a. and n.”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /he.teˈro.kli.te/, [hɛt̪ɛˈrɔklʲɪt̪ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /e.teˈro.kli.te/, [et̪eˈrɔːklit̪e]
Adjective edit
heteroclite