Heteroclite
/ˈhɛtəɹəʊklaɪt/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An irregularly declined or inflected word.
- 2 A word whose etymological roots come from distinct, different languages or language groups.
- 3 A person who is unconventional; a maverick.
Adjective
- 1 Irregularly declined or inflected.
- 2 Deviating from the ordinary rule; eccentric, abnormal. dated
"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."
Example
More examples"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."
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-.