mumpsimus

American  

[muhmp-suh-muhs] / ˈmʌmp sə məs /

noun

plural

mumpsimuses

1. adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy (sumpsimus ).

2. a person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice (sumpsimus ).

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Etymology

Origin of mumpsimus

First recorded in 1520–30; from a story, perhaps originating with Erasmus, of an illiterate Catholic priest who, while saying the postcommunion prayer at Mass, said mumpsimus rather than sūmpsimus (1st-person plural perfect of Latin sūmere “to take, take up”): “Quod ōre sūmpsimus, Domine, pūrā mente capiāmus” (“What we have taken by mouth, O Lord, may we keep with a pure mind”) and refused to change the word when corrected; consume ( def. )

Example Sentences

This process of near-homophony has many wonderfully named literary variants, from mondegreen to malapropism, earslip and mumpsimus.

From The Guardian • Sep. 23, 2014

In the reign of Henry the Eighth, an old priest was found who for forty years had read the word sumpsimus in his breviary as mumpsimus.

From Robin Tremayne A Story of the Marian Persecution by Holt, Emily Sarah

Some are too stiff in their old mumpsimus, and others too busy and curious in their new sumpsimus.3 Thus the pulpits are, as it were, batteries against each other; the noise is hostile and ruinous.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac

But the epitaphs were trim and sprag, and patent, and pleased the survivors of Thames Ditton above the old mumpsimus of "Afflictions sore."

From The Best Letters of Charles Lamb by Lamb, Charles

So the reformers who call it “mulligatunny” are just as bad as we devotees of mumpsimus and mulligatawny ourselves.

From The Curry Cook's Assistant or, Curries, How to Make Them in England in Their Original Style by Santiagoe, Daniel