heteroclite
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
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-.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈhɛtərəʊklaɪt/
[edit] Adjective
heteroclite (comparative more heteroclite, superlative most heteroclite)
- 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.
- 1997, Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun:
- Nor could I have dreamed the heteroclite crew-men I had met aboard Tzadkiel's ship ...
- 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Penguin, published 2003, page 24:
- (grammar) Being irregularly declined or inflected.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] See also
[edit] Noun
heteroclite (plural heteroclites)
- A person who is unconventional; a maverick
- (grammar) An irregularly declined or inflected word
- (linguistics) A word whose etymological roots come from distinct, different languages or language groups.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Latin
[edit] Adjective
heterōclite
- vocative masculine singular of heterōclitus
