Capricious

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Capricious

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:11 pm

• capricious •

Pronunciation: kê-pri-shês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Given to sudden changes in behavior ostensibly without reason, on a whim, whimsical, impulsive.

Notes: Today's Good Word is the adjective made from caprice. It apparently its origin has no relation to caprine "goat-like, related to goats" (but see Word History). Since capricious ends on the suffix -ous, it paves the way for another noun, capriciousness, whose meaning overlaps that of caprice.

In Play: Anything with unpredictably whimsical behavior may be called "capricious": "Gilda Lilly chases the capricious trends in fashion more than even Maude Lynn Dresser." Spring weather is notably capricious; so is the stock market, though its capriciousness is known better as "volatility".

Word History: The noun underlying today's good adjective is French caprice "whim", borrowed from Italian capriccio "tantrum, whim, caprice". This word is a reduction of caporiccio "fright, sudden start" under the influence of capra "goat", because of goats' frisky movements. Caporiccio originally meant "hedgehog head", since a frightened animal with hair standing on end is apt to make sudden starts. Capo is the Italian remnant of Latin caput "head". Latin took this word directly from Proto-Indo-European kaput- "head", which is the origin of the English word head. Head started out in Old English as heafod, with the PIE [k] converting as it should to [h] and [p] to [f]. Kaput also went into the making of a series of words based on the metaphorical meaning of "head": captain, capital, and decapitate. (We thank Norman Neuberger III for recommending today's Good Word, and hope it wasn't just a capricious effort on his part.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: Capricious

Postby Philip Hudson » Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:52 pm

Imagine my disappointment. All the while, listening to Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien" and other musical caprices, I have imagined gamboling goats.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Semrush [Bot] and 41 guests