heteroclite

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 See also 1.4 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From mediaeval Latin ethroclitus and late Latin heteroclitus, from Greek ἑτερόκλιτος, from ἑτερο- + κλίνειν ‘lean, incline’.

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɛtərəʊklaɪt/

[edit] Adjective

heteroclite (comparative more heteroclite, superlative most heteroclite)

1. Deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric, abnormal.

   • 1759: 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. — Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin 2003, p. 24)

2. (grammar) Being irregularly declined or inflected.

[edit] See also

• eclectic

[edit] Noun

heteroclite (plural heteroclites)

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