pompatus

English

Etymology

First used in the lyrics of Steve Miller's 1972 rock song "Enter Maurice" ("whisper sweet words of epismetology in your ear and speak to you of the pompatus of love.") and popularized in his 1973 rock song "The Joker" ("Cause I speak of the pompatus of love"), but having no apparent meaning in either song. Inspired by the lyric "Oh my darling, let me whisper sweet words of pizmotality and discuss the puppetutes of love" in The Medallions "The Letter" written by Vernon Green. ("Puppetutes" described a fantasy paper-doll or puppet-like girl.)

Noun

pompatus

1. (nonce word) One who is pompous or splendid.
   • 2000, Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost, Picador,, →ISBN, page 140:

     She loved the way the lecturer stated it, offhand, but with the air of a pompatus.

   • 2011, Craig Robinson, Flip Flop Fly Ball: An Infographic Baseball Adventure, →ISBN:

     It's a good job there was no need for a baseball infographic about “The joker” because I'd have been forced to use a terrible pun: the pompatus of glove.

   • 2014 November 6, Barryfromtexas, “Week 9 Thingy - Not Enough Heh to Go Around (Now with grammarfication)”, in SBNation:

     Ryan Mallett is the pompatus of offense.

   • 2015, Suanne Laqueur, Give Me Your Answer True, →ISBN:

     “And my mom is the pompatus of love,” Will said.

2. (nonce word) Pomp, ostentatiousness, or spectacle.
   • 2004, Michael Chabon, Michael Mignola, McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, →ISBN, page 84:

     It could be a whang-dang-doodle, a cloche hat made out of coyote fur, or a phylactery testifying to the pompatus of love.

   • 2010, Loren Berengere, Satirical Denouncements of the Wicked Americans and We Anti-Matriarchalists‎^[1], page 98:

     Got my pompatus up; my rave'll be on in a few. I must have popped too many; the Iowa donkeys are starting to bray in my ears.

   • 2015, John Hornor Jacobs, Foreign Devils, →ISBN:

     All the pompatus of war. It would come.

   • 2015 June 26, Eric Zorn, “What same-sex marriage backers 'lost'”, in Chicago Tribune:

     If you're into the pompatus of Twitter, send email to […] and I'll sign you up for the newsletter that alerts you when the week's poll is posted.

See also

• Pompatus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of pompō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pomˈpaː.tus/, [pɔmˈpäːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pomˈpa.tus/, [pomˈpäːt̪us]

Participle

pompātus (feminine pompāta, neuter pompātum); first/second-declension participle

1. acted or done pompously (with pomp)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pompātus	pompāta	pompātum		pompātī	pompātae	pompāta
genitive	pompātī	pompātae	pompātī		pompātōrum	pompātārum	pompātōrum
dative	pompātō	pompātae	pompātō		pompātīs
accusative	pompātum	pompātam	pompātum		pompātōs	pompātās	pompāta
ablative	pompātō	pompātā	pompātō		pompātīs
vocative	pompāte	pompāta	pompātum		pompātī	pompātae	pompāta

Adjective

pompātus (feminine pompāta, neuter pompātum); first/second-declension adjective

1. splendid (with pomp)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	pompātus	pompāta	pompātum		pompātī	pompātae	pompāta
genitive	pompātī	pompātae	pompātī		pompātōrum	pompātārum	pompātōrum
dative	pompātō	pompātae	pompātō		pompātīs
accusative	pompātum	pompātam	pompātum		pompātōs	pompātās	pompāta
ablative	pompātō	pompātā	pompātō		pompātīs
vocative	pompāte	pompāta	pompātum		pompātī	pompātae	pompāta

References

• “pompatus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pompatus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.