desultory

des•ul•tor•y (DES-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee)  adj

Definition:
1. having no set plan; haphazard or random; lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order
2. moving or jumping from one thing to another; digressing from or unconnected with the main subject
desultoriness noun;  desultorily adverb

Origin:
1580s; from L. desultorius, adj. form of desultor "hasty, casual, superficial," lit. a noun meaning "a rider in the circus who jumps from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" + salire "to jump, leap"; sense of "irregular, without aim or method" is c.1740

Related:
Synonyms: aimless, chance, chaotic, deviating, erratic, haphazard, orderless, rambling, unmethodical, unstable, unsystematic
Related Words: salient, salacious, saute, resilience, consilience, assail, assault, insult

Sentence Examples:
• The Devil's Dictionary was begun in a weekly paper in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long intervals until 1906. - The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce

• If she had appeared to be catching a train, he might have inferred that he had come on her in the act of transition between one and another of the country-houses which disputed her presence after the close of the Newport season; but her desultory air perplexed him. She stood apart from the crowd, letting it drift by her to the platform or the street, and wearing an air of irresolution which might, as he surmised, be the mask of a very definite purpose. - House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

• His measured, springless walk was the walk of the skilled countryman as distinct from the desultory shamble of the general labourer; while in the turn and plant of each foot there was, further, a dogged and cynical indifference personal to himself, showing its presence even in the regularly interchanging fustian folds, now in the left leg, now in the right, as he paced along. - The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy

Sources: Free Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

yaw

yaw (yaw)

Definition:
verb (used without object)
1. to deviate temporarily from a straight course, as a ship
2. (of an aircraft) to have a motion about its vertical axis
3. (of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillation of the longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane

verb (used with object)
4. to cause to yaw

noun
5. a movement of deviation from a direct course, as of a ship
6. a motion of an aircraft about its vertical axis
7. an angle, to the right or left, determined by the direction of motion of an aircraft or spacecraft and its vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry
8. (of a rocket or guided missile) the act of yawing; the angular displacement of the longitudinal axis due to yawing


Origin:
1546; from O.N. jaga, O.Dan. jæge "to drive, chase," from M.L.G. jagen, from O.H.G. jagon, from P.Gmc. *jagojanan

Related:
Synonyms: bank, curve, deviate, slue, swerve, turn, veer, weave, zigzag
Related Words: yacht

Sentence Examples:
• Just in time I blow my horn, and your boat she yaw a little. Then I see you come all down. Eh, wha-at? I think you are cut into baits by the screw, but you dreeft—dreeft to me, and I make a big fish of you. So you shall not die this time. -Captains Courageous, Rudyard Kipling

• She had evidently more on her than she could bear; yet it was in vain to try to take it in--the clewline was not strong enough; and they were thinking of cutting away, when another wide yaw and a come-to, snapped the guys, and the swinging boom came in, with a crash, against the lower rigging.  -Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana

• We had almost despaired of escaping, when fortunately one of our shot brought down the advanced frigates fore topsail yard, and we soon found we were leaving her. The second yawed, and gave us a broadside; only two of her shot took effect by striking near the fore channels. Her yaw saved us, as we gained on her considerably. -A Sailor of King George, The Journals of Captain Frederick Hoffman

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day