voluble
English
Etymology
From Middle French volubile, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin volūbilis (“rolling”), from volvō (“I roll”).
Pronunciation
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- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 276: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈvɑl.jə.bəl/
Audio (US): (file)
Adjective
voluble (comparative more voluble, superlative most voluble)
- (of a person or a manner of speaking) Fluent or having a ready flow of speech; garrulous or loquacious; tonguey.
- c. 1595 William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act 3, scene 1:
- A most acute juvenal; voluble and free of grace!
- 1853, Charlotte Brontë, Villette, ch. 19:
- What fun shone in his eyes as he recalled some of her fine speeches, and repeated them, imitating her voluble delivery!
- 1904, Jack London, The Sea Wolf, ch. 26:
- But Wolf Larsen seemed voluble, prone to speech as I had never seen him before.
- c. 1595 William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act 3, scene 1:
- (of thoughts, feelings, or something that is expressed) Expressed readily or at length and in a fluent manner.
- 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:
- now to the discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence, but that, for the most part, either specious rather than solid, or to his cause nothing pertinent.
- 1886, William Dean Howells, The Minister's Charge, ch. 6:
- [H]e heard the voice of the drunken woman, now sober, poured out in voluble remorse, and in voluble promise of amendment for the future, to every one who passed, if they would let her off easy.
- 1910, H. H. Munro, "The Reticence of Lady Anne" in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches:
- As a rule Lady Anne's displeasure became articulate and markedly voluble after four minutes of introductory muteness.
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Episode 9:
- In the daylit corridor he talked with voluble pains of zeal.
- 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:
- Easily rolling or turning; having a fluid, undulating motion.
- 1935, Leonard Barnes, Zulu Paraclete: A Sentimental Record, Peter Davies, page 22:
- Seen from the west, their sky-line gallops away north and south like a sea-serpent in voluble motion.
- 1935, Leonard Barnes, Zulu Paraclete: A Sentimental Record, Peter Davies, page 22:
- (botany) Twisting and turning like a vine.
Synonyms
- (easily rolling): steady
Antonyms
- (fluent): halting
Related terms
Translations
fluent or having a ready flow of speech; garrulous or loquacious
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easily rolling or turning
twisting and turning like a vine
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Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
voluble m or f (masculine and feminine plural volubles)
Further reading
- “voluble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- en:Botany
- en:Talking
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives