Link Centre Dictionary

sporadic

spo·ra·dic

UK/spəˈɹæd.ɪk/ US/spɜrˈædɪk/ rare archaic

adjective

1.

recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances

  • “a city subjected to sporadic bombing raids”

Origin

From Medieval Latin sporadicus (whence also French sporadique, Italian sporadico, Spanish esporádico), from Ancient Greek σποραδικός (sporadikós), from σποράς (sporás, “scattered, dispersed”), from σπορά (sporá), σπόρος (spóros, “a sowing [of seed]”).

Phrases

  • sporadic E
  • sporadic group

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.