Word of the Day : August 9, 2019

omnium-gatherum \ahm-nee-um-GA-thuh-rum\ noun

Definition

: a miscellaneous collection (as of things or persons)

Did You Know?

English abounds in Latin phrases. They roll off the learned tongue like peas off a fork: tabula rasa, ab ovo, a posteriori, deus ex machina, ex cathedra, mea culpa, terra firma, vox populi, ad hominem, sub rosa. Omnium-gatherum belongs on that list too, right? Not exactly. Omnium-gatherum sounds like Latin, and indeed omnium (the genitive plural of Latin omnis, meaning "all") is the real thing. But gatherum is simply English gather with -um tacked on to give it a classical ring. We're not suggesting, however, that the phrase is anything less than literate. After all, the first person known to have used it was John Croke, a lawyer who was educated at Eton and Cambridge in the 16th century.

Aired August 9, 2019

All Merriam-Webster content is available at www.merriam-webster.com