Wordwyrt

desultory

/ˈdesəlˌtɔːɹi/DEH-suhl-taw-ree
/ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/DEH-suhl-taw-ree

Meaningone who leaps down

Common meaning: aimless, random

‘down, away, from’ + ‘to leap, jump’ → desultory

Journey through time

  • de — Latin de- “down, away, from” (path traced)
  • sultory — Latin saliō, saluī, saltum “to leap, jump” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as desultor.

  1. Latinde- + salire‘down, away, from + to leap, jump’source
  2. Latindesultor‘one who leaps down’source
  3. Latindesultoriussource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsone who leaps down → aimless, randomdesultory‘aimless, random’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin desultor, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as de- ‘down, away, from’ + salire ‘to leap, jump’.

Roots

Related words

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