volubile

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle French volubile, from Latin volūbilis (rolling), from volvō (I roll). Doublet of voluble.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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volubile (comparative more volubile, superlative most volubile)

  1. (chiefly botany) Turning or whirling; winding.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. [], London: [] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker []; [a]nd by Robert Boulter []; [a]nd Matthias Walker, [], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: [], London: Basil Montagu Pickering [], 1873, →OCLC:
      [] or this less volubil earth,
      By shorter flight to th' east,
      had left him there
      Arraying with reflected purple and gold
      The clouds that on his western throne attend.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for volubile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

French

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin volūbilis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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volubile (plural volubiles)

  1. talkative (talking a great deal with ease, and quickly changing subjects)
    Near-synonyms: disert, loquace, bavard, prolixe
  2. inconstant, changeable, variable

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Interlingua

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Adjective

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volubile (comparative plus volubile, superlative le plus volubile)

  1. voluble

Italian

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Etymology

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Probably borrowed from Latin volūbilis (turning).

Adjective

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volubile (plural volubili)

  1. inconstant, changeable, variable
  2. shifty
  3. fickle, moody
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Latin

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Adjective

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volūbile

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of volūbilis

Middle French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin volūbilis.

Adjective

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volubile m or f (plural volubiles)

  1. inconstant, variable; changeable
  2. movable; moving

Descendants

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  • French: volubile

References

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  • volubile on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)