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absquatulate - 4 dictionary results

ab⋅squat⋅u⋅late

  [ab-skwoch-uh-leyt]
Use absquatulate in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing. Slang.
to flee; abscond: The old prospector absquatulated with our picks and shovel.
Origin:
1820–30; pseudo-Latinism, from ab-, squat, and -ulate, paralleling Latin-derived words with initial abs- (e.g., abscond, abstention ) and final -tulate (e.g., congratulate )

Related forms:
ab⋅squat⋅u⋅lat⋅er, noun
ab⋅squat⋅u⋅la⋅tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To absquatulate
ab·squat·u·late   (āb-skwŏch'ə-lāt')   
intr.v.   ab·squat·u·lat·ed, ab·squat·u·lat·ing, ab·squat·u·lates Midwestern & Western U.S.
    1. To depart in a hurry; abscond: "Your horse has absquatulated!" (Robert M. Bird).
    2. To die.
  2. To argue.

[Mock-Latinate formation, purporting to mean "to go off and squat elsewhere".]
In the 19th century, the vibrant energy of American English appeared in the use of Latin affixes to create jocular pseudo-Latin "learned" words. There is a precedent for this in the language of Shakespeare, whose plays contain scores of made-up Latinate words. Midwestern and Western U.S. absquatulate has a prefix ab-, "away from," and a suffix -ate, "to act upon in a specified manner," affixed to a nonexistent base form -squatul-, probably suggested by squat. Hence the whimsical absquatulate, "to squat away from." Another such coinage is Northern busticate, which joins bust with -icate by analogy with verbs like medicate. Southern argufy joins argue to a redundant -fy, "to make; cause to become." Today, these creations have an old-fashioned and rustic flavor curiously at odds with their elegance. They are kept alive in regions of the United States where change is slow. For example, Appalachian speech is characterized by the frequent use of words such as recollect, aggravate, and oblige.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Absquatulate

Ab*squat"u*late\, v. i. To take one's self off; to decamp. [A jocular word. U. S.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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absquatulate 
1837, "Facetious U.S. coinage" [Weekley], perhaps rooted in mock-Latin negation of squat "to settle."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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