ouroboric

English

WOTD – 2 September 2011

Alternative forms

• uroboric

Etymology

• ouroboros +‎ -ic

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ôr-ə-bôr'-ĭk IPA^(key): /ɔɹəˈbɔɹɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

ouroboric (comparative more ouroboric, superlative most ouroboric)

1. Self-referring, self-reflexive, self-consuming; recursive
2. Relating to the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

   What could be more ouroboric than members of the media who specialize in blaming the media.

   Going back in time and becoming one's own grandfather is a rather ouroboric endeavour

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 17:

     Like the ouroboric serpent which bites its own tail, the spinal column brings the mysteries of language and sexuality, mouth and genitals together.

Related terms

• ouroboros / uroborus

Translations

self-referring, self-reflexive, self-consuming; recursive

• Finnish: rekursiivinen, kehämäinen
• Russian: рекурсивный (ru) (rekursivnyj)
• Spanish: recursivo (es)

relating to Ouroboros

• Russian: уроборический (uroboričeskij)
• Spanish: urobórico