promiscuous

English

WOTD – 16 May 2011

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pɹəˈmɪs.kju.əs/
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Adjective

promiscuous (comparative more promiscuous, superlative most promiscuous)

Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
Synonym: motley
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 379-80:
  Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, / While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof.
- 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter I, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 4:
  [T]hey had both been educated [...] on plans at once narrow and promiscuous, first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne, their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition.
Made without careful choice; indiscriminate.
A sail caught by a promiscuous wind.
Having many sexual partners, especially if indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.
- 2023, Parliament of Singapore, “Women’s Charter (Family Violence and Other Matters) (Amendment) Bill”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette‎^[1], page 5:
  X spreads false rumours to third parties about X’s spouse being promiscuous. X’s spouse finds out about the rumours and is distressed. X has committed emotional or psychological abuse against X’s spouse.
(networking) The mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.

Derived terms

Descendants

→ German: promiskuos

Translations

made up of various disparate elements mixed together

Bulgarian: разнороден (bg) (raznoroden)
Catalan: promiscu (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 混雜嘅 / 混杂嘅 (wan⁶ zaap⁶ ge³)
Finnish: sekalainen (fi)
French: hétéroclite (fr) m
Galician: promiscuo m
German: zusammengewürfelt (de), bunt gemischt
Macedonian: разно́роден (raznóroden), разно́виден (raznóviden)
Occitan: variat (oc), mesclat (oc)
Russian: разношёрстный (ru) (raznošórstnyj), разноро́дный (ru) (raznoródnyj)
Slovak: promiskuitný
Spanish: promiscuo (es)
Turkish: gelişigüzel (tr), karışık (tr), rastgele (tr)

made without careful choice; indiscriminate

Bulgarian: безразборен (bg) (bezrazboren)
Catalan: promiscu (ca)
Danish: promiskuøs (da)
Finnish: umpimähkäinen (fi), summittainen (fi)
French: indiscriminé (fr) m, indiscriminée (fr) f
German: wahllos (de), willkürlich (de), unüberlegt (de)
Latin: promiscuus
Macedonian: безра́зборен (bezrázboren), непро́мислен (neprómislen)
Russian: неразбо́рчивый (ru) (nerazbórčivyj)
Slovak: promiskuitný
Spanish: promiscuo (es)
Turkish: keyfî (tr)

indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners

Bulgarian: разпуснат (bg) (razpusnat)
Catalan: promiscu (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 濫交嘅 / 滥交嘅 (laam⁵ gaau¹ ge³), A380 (slang)
Danish: promiskuøs (da)
Dutch: promiscue (nl)
Finnish: kevytkenkäinen (fi) (of a woman)
French: promiscue (fr) m
Galician: promiscuo m
German: freizügig (de), sexuell freizügig, promiskuitiv (de) (technical)
Icelandic: lauslátur (is)
Irish: ilchaidreamhach
Jarai: rih
Macedonian: ра́спуштен (ráspušten), промискуите́тен (promiskuitéten), блу́ден (blúden)
Maori: tarau makere (of a woman), ure paratī (of a man), tīweka
Polish: rozwiązły (pl), rozpustny (pl)
Portuguese: promíscuo (pt)
Russian: неразбо́рчивый (ru) (nerazbórčivyj), распу́тный (ru) (raspútnyj), распу́щенный (ru) (raspúščennyj)
Slovak: promiskuitný
Spanish: promiscuo (es)
Swedish: promiskuös (sv)
Tagalog: handalapak
Thai: ร่าน (th) (râan)
Turkish: herkesle yatan

networking: the mode in which an NIC gathers all network traffic

Finnish: erottelematon, valikoimaton (fi)
French: promiscue (fr) m
Occitan: mesclat (oc)
Polish: nasłuchujący
Slovak: promiskuitný