heteroclite
[ het-er-uh-klahyt ]
/ ˈhɛt ər əˌklaɪt /
adjective Also het·er·o·clit·ic [het-er-uh-klit-ik] /ˌhɛt ər əˈklɪt ɪk/, het·er·o·clit·i·cal.
irregular or abnormal; anomalous.
Grammar. irregular in inflection; having inflected forms belonging to more than one class of stems.
noun
a person or thing that deviates from the ordinary rule or form.
Grammar. a heteroclite word.
RELATED WORDS
anomalous, unnatural, abnormal, strange, odd, peculiar, divergent, unusual, unexpected, irregular, exceptional, atypical, uncommon, extraordinary, weird, aberrant, bizarre, incongruous, straying, bent
Nearby words
- heterochromous,
- heterochronia,
- heterochrony,
- heterochthonous,
- heterocladic anastomosis,
- heterocrine,
- heterocyclic,
- heterocyst,
- heterocytotropic,
- heterocytotropic antibody
Origin of heteroclite
1570–80; < Middle French < Late Latin heteroclitus < Greek heteróklitos, equivalent to hetero- hetero- + -klitos, verbid of klī́nein to bend, inflect
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
heteroclite
/ (ˈhɛtərəˌklaɪt) /
adjective Also: heteroclitic (ˌhɛtərəˈklɪtɪk)
(esp of the form of a word) irregular or unusual
noun
an irregularly formed word
Word Origin for heteroclite
C16: from Late Latin heteroclitus declining irregularly, from Greek heteroklitos, from hetero- + klinein to bend, inflect
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