sporadic
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Medieval Latin sporadicus (whence also French sporadique, Italian sporadico, Spanish esporádico), from Ancient Greek σποραδικός (sporadikós), from σποράς (sporás, “scattered, dispersed”), from σπορά (sporá), σπόρος (spóros, “a sowing [of seed]”).[1]
Pronunciation
Adjective
sporadic (comparative more sporadic, superlative most sporadic)
- (archaic) (of diseases) occurring in isolated instances; not epidemic.
- Rare and scattered in occurrence.
- 2015 March 12, Daniel Taylor, “Chelsea out of Champions League after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals”, in The Guardian (London):
- It was a stodgy, weary display from Mourinho’s team with only sporadic moments when they threatened Salvatore Sirigu’s goal and their manager seemed bewildered afterwards when he tried to explain what had gone wrong.
- Exhibiting random behavior; patternless.
- (mathematics) Not belonging to any infinite family; an exception to an otherwise orderly classification.
Derived terms
- sporadic E layer
- sporadic group
Related terms
Translations
rare and scattered in occurrence
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exhibiting random behaviour
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References
- The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, p. 2978.
Anagrams
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