Laputan
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Laputa + -an, after Laputa, an imaginary flying island described in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726).
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]Laputan (comparative more Laputan, superlative most Laputan)
- Fanciful; preposterous; absurd in philosophy or science.
- [1879], George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “[Impressions of Theophrastus Such.] How We Encourage Research.”, in Impressions of Theophrastus Such, Essays and Leaves from a Note-book, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 33:
- He could not, they observed, want all his various knowledge and Laputan ideas for his periodical writing which brought him most of his bread, and he would do well to use his talents in getting a speciality that would fit him for a post.
Noun
[edit]Laputan (plural Laputans)
- A native or inhabitant of the fictional island of Laputa.