First recorded in 1375–1425.
Comes from Latin, from the past participle of inveterāre, “to grow old, allow to grow old, preserve.\"
Inveterāre contains veter-, the stem of vetus, meaning “old,\" which is also the stem of the word veteran.
Sign up for more Word of the Day!

\r\nEXAMPLES OF INVETERATE\r\n

The inveterate procrastinator always left things until the last minute.
As an inveterate optimist, she always saw the bright side of every situation.

\r\nIt's National Poetry Month, and we’ve created a challenge that really is for everyone. Submit now!","audio":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/I02/I0281600.mp3","definitions":[{"partofspeech":"adjective","data":"settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like."}],"examples":[],"imageUrl":"https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/inveterate_IG.png","accentColor":"#0063D7"}},"status":"succeeded"}},"meta":{"requestId":"K7p1popycrWBr4PslLXW9","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchWordsNearby/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"before":[{"slug":"speech-correction","entry":"speech correction"},{"slug":"speech-day","entry":"speech day"},{"slug":"speech-form","entry":"speech form"},{"slug":"speech-from-the-throne","entry":"speech from the throne"},{"slug":"speechify","entry":"speechify"}],"after":[{"slug":"speech-language-pathologist","entry":"speech-language pathologist"},{"slug":"speech-language-pathology","entry":"speech-language pathology"},{"slug":"speechless","entry":"speechless"},{"slug":"speechmaker","entry":"speechmaker"},{"slug":"speech-organ","entry":"speech organ"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"speech-island"},"requestId":"HhjkY82nK1ixTUuc6VTJ8","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"luna/fetchExampleSentences/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"tdb":[],"gbg":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"speech-island"},"requestId":"9RCJLWB5sqDPipD_FShzW","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchDictionaryResults/fulfilled","payload":{"slugs":[{"entries":[{"__typename":"Entry","audioPronunciations":[],"confusableNotes":[],"genderNotes":[],"grammarNotes":[],"headword":{"displayForm":"speech island","slug":"speech-island"},"idioms":[],"orderKey":99999010,"ordinal":10,"origin":null,"partOfSpeechBlock":[{"definitions":[{"antonymsConnection":{"edges":[]},"definitionSetChunks":"[{\"type\": \"def\", \"children\": [{\"text\": \"a speech community that is completely surrounded by another, usually larger, speech community.\", \"type\": \"text\"}]}]","examples":[],"ordinal":1,"subdefinitions":[],"synonymsConnection":{"edges":[]}}],"inflectionSets":[],"labelSet":{"labelSetText":"Linguistics."},"ordinal":1,"partOfSpeech":"noun"}],"pronunciationNotes":[],"pronunciationSet":null,"relatedFormSets":[],"sensitiveNotes":[],"spellingNotes":[],"synonymStudy":[],"usageAlerts":[],"usageNotes":[],"variants":[],"verbPhrases":[]},{"__typename":"ThesaurusEntry","headword":{"displayForm":"speech island","slug":"speech-island"},"id":"u27e59bea365df506.-410fe1c2.17951a06271.-2e67","partOfSpeechGroups":[{"shortDefinitions":[{"synonyms":[{"targetWord":"ethnic group","id":"generated-2d97abf5-6b39-4ee0-a6c8-93c72b83714f","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"ethnic-group"},{"targetWord":"isogloss","id":"generated-2ab7fd2b-df0f-4041-836e-10d899b03b0b","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"isogloss"},{"targetWord":"linguistic ambience","id":"generated-b62c4a7e-38eb-43d8-bb4b-c1e667115c2b","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"linguistic-ambience"},{"targetWord":"linguistic community","id":"generated-3247ec2b-8f2e-4a7d-ad2d-6320688a41a6","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"linguistic-community"},{"targetWord":"linguistic island","id":"generated-a7d0d622-0691-4280-aee8-8526271042e2","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"linguistic-island"},{"targetWord":"relic area","id":"generated-5cd61da4-971e-4f63-b5d0-9a577b36e823","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"relic-area"},{"targetWord":"society","id":"generated-0cc861fe-cb07-4c14-95dc-b5993b88d966","similarity":10,"targetSlug":"society"}],"thesRid":"u27e59bea365df506.-410fe1c2.17951a06271.-2e62_1","antonyms":[]}]}]}],"url":"speech-island"}]},"meta":{"arg":{"slug":"speech-island"},"requestId":"sDXihCHMXzd1kpIcinXdm","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchResultsData/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"url":"speech-island","displayForm":"speech island","canonicalSlug":"speech-island","content":[{"source":"luna","entries":[{"id":"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e782fe7.-218a","type":"normal","entry":"speech island","entrySyllabified":"speech island","entryVariants":[],"homograph":null,"pronunciation":null,"predefinitionContent":"","posBlocks":[{"definitions":[{"order":1,"type":"simple","predefinitionContent":"","postdefinitionContent":"","definition":"a speech community that is completely surrounded by another, usually larger, speech community.","synonyms":"","antonyms":"","cites":[]}],"pos":"noun","posSupplementaryInfo":"Linguistics."}],"origin":null,"originData":null,"supplementaryNotes":[],"variantForms":[],"variantSpellings":[],"referenceData":[],"relatedForms":[],"confusables":[]}]}],"nearbyWordOrdinal":145669,"index-rank-01":["speech island"],"index-rank-02":[],"index-rank-03":[],"index-rank-04":["speech island's","speech islands","speech islands'"],"index-rank-05":[],"index-rank-06":[],"index-rank-07":[],"index-rank-08":[],"index-rank-09":[],"index-rank-10":[],"index-rank-11":[],"index-rank-12":[],"index-rank-13":[],"index-rank-14":[],"index-rank-15":[],"categoryId":"205","complexityScore":0.19395631320315845,"gradeLevel":"high_school","tunaSlug":"speech%20island","isFeaturedMetaSlug":false}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"speech-island"},"requestId":"SjU4hhn4SntX9C_C24bA1","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchSpellSuggestions/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"luna":[],"tuna":[],"lunaWithSlug":[],"tunaWithSlug":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"speech-island"},"requestId":"xmyWAfriMMw5nNPG4Xj6G","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}}]},"actionData":null,"errors":null}

speech island

noun

Word of the Day