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Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:  desultory1
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  wavering, unsteady; erratic
Etymology:  Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
desultory

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Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:  desultory2
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  irregular, unmethodical; inconsistent
Etymology:  Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:  desultory3
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  random; occurring haphazardly; digressive
Etymology:  Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry:  desultory4
Part of Speech:  adj
Definition:  disappointing in quality or performance
Etymology:  Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
des·ul·to·ry    Audio Help   [des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
2.digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.

[Origin: 1575–85; < L désultōrius pertaining to a désultor (a circus rider who jumps from one horse to another), equiv. to désul-, var. s. of désilīre to jump down (dé- de- + -silīre, comb. form of salīre to leap) + -tōrius -tory1]

des·ul·to·ri·ly, adverb
des·ul·to·ri·ness, noun

1. See haphazard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
des·ul·to·ry    Audio Help   (děs'əl-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē, děz'-)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Having no set plan; haphazard or random. See Synonyms at chance.
  2. Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected: a desultory speech.


[Latin dēsultōrius, leaping, from dēsultor, a leaper, from dēsultus, past participle of dēsilīre, to leap down : dē-, de- + salīre, to jump; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]

des'ul·to'ri·ly adv., des'ul·to'ri·ness n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
desultory 
1581, "skipping about," from L. desultorius, adj. form of desultur "hasty, casual, superficial," lit. noun meaning "a rider in the circus who jumped from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" + salire "to jump, leap" (see salient). Sense of "irregular" is c.1740.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
desultory

adjective
marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; "desultory thoughts"; "the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desultory

Des"ul*to*ry\, a. [L. desultorius, fr. desultor a leaper, fr. desilire, desultum, to leap down; de + salire to leap. See Saltation.]

1. Leaping or skipping about. [Obs.]

I shot at it [a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim. --Gilbert White.

2. Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless; as, desultory minds. --Atterbury.

He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory. --Macaulay.

3. Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.

Syn: Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

desultory

desultory was Word of the Day on June 23, 1999.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day
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