heteroclite

English

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-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛtərəʊklaɪt/

Adjective

heteroclite (comparative more heteroclite, superlative most heteroclite)

1. 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 ...

2. (grammar) Being irregularly declined or inflected.

Related terms

• heteroclitic

See also

• eclectic

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.

Related terms

• heteroclitic

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Latin

Adjective

heterōclite

1. vocative masculine singular of heterōclitus