Promiscuous

WOTD - 16 May 2011    

English

Etymology

From Latin prōmiscuus (“mixed, not separated”), from prō (“forth”) + misceō (“mix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /prəˈmɪskjuːəs/

Adjective

Promiscuous (comparative more Promiscuous, superlative most Promiscuous)

1. Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1, ll. 379-80

     Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, / While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof

2. Made without careful choice; indiscriminate.
3. Indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.

   "everyone has always known, widely promiscuous heterosexual men have, as I say, a whiff of the bathhouse about them." —Ann Coulter

4. (networking) The mode in which a NIC gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.

Synonyms

• WikiSaurus:promiscuous man
• WikiSaurus:promiscuous woman

Derived terms

• promiscuity
• promiscuousness

Translations

made up of various disparate elements mixed together

Catalan: promiscu (ca) Finnish: sekalainen (fi)

Spanish: promiscuo (es)

made without careful choice; indiscriminate

Catalan: promiscu (ca) Danish: promiskuøs (da)

Finnish: umpimähkäinen (fi), summittainen (fi) Spanish: promiscuo (es)

indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners

Catalan: promiscu (ca) Danish: promiskuøs (da) Finnish: irtosuhteita harrastava Macedonian: промискуитетен (mk) (promiskuitéten) m., промискуитетна (mk) (promiskuitétna) f.

Portuguese: promíscuo (pt) Spanish: promiscuo (es) Swedish: promiskuös (sv) Thai: ร่าน (th)

being in a mode in which a NIC gathers all network traffic

External links

• Promiscuous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• Promiscuous in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• Promiscuous at OneLook Dictionary Search