“Heteroclite”, pronounced with a long i, as in fight, is based on the Latin heteroclitus, which is based on the classical Greek ἑτερόκλιτος (heteróklitos). The term combines “héteros,” meaning “different,” with “klínō,” meaning “to lean.” I’m thinking incline.
“Heteroclite” is usually an adjective describing behavior or opinions out of the ordinary. However, like its synonym “eccentric,” “heteroclite” can also be a noun indicating a person who behaves in an irregular manner.
British culture has long celebrated heteroclite people — or “heteroclites” — in works such as John Timbs’ 1866 book English Eccentrics and Eccentricities and Edith Sitwell’s 1933 book The English Eccentrics. In more recent decades, the British newspaper The Telegraph ran a special obituary series called “Eccentric Lives.”
Catholic convert Sitwell was surely a heteroclite. I wrote about her on 8/24/2022. There you can watch her interview and decide for yourself. Deathbed Catholic Oscar Wilde was another. A classmate from high school is. I tend to like a heteroclite, the odd boy or girl out. My student, Alexander, age nine, is a heteroclite on account of his genius. I’ve spotted several at St. Stephen Sacramento, and I think one of our priests, Fr. B., is.
Wordgenius.com helped on this one.
“Heteroclite” is usually an adjective describing behavior or opinions out of the ordinary. However, like its synonym “eccentric,” “heteroclite” can also be a noun indicating a person who behaves in an irregular manner.
British culture has long celebrated heteroclite people — or “heteroclites” — in works such as John Timbs’ 1866 book English Eccentrics and Eccentricities and Edith Sitwell’s 1933 book The English Eccentrics. In more recent decades, the British newspaper The Telegraph ran a special obituary series called “Eccentric Lives.”
Catholic convert Sitwell was surely a heteroclite. I wrote about her on 8/24/2022. There you can watch her interview and decide for yourself. Deathbed Catholic Oscar Wilde was another. A classmate from high school is. I tend to like a heteroclite, the odd boy or girl out. My student, Alexander, age nine, is a heteroclite on account of his genius. I’ve spotted several at St. Stephen Sacramento, and I think one of our priests, Fr. B., is.
Wordgenius.com helped on this one.
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