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Origin and history of loquacious

loquacious(adj.)

"given to continual talking, chattering, talkative," 1660s, a back-formation from loquacity, or else formed from stem of Latin loquax (genitive loquacis) "talkative," from loqui "to speak" (from PIE root *tolkw- "to speak") + -ous. Compare French loquace, Spanish locuaz. Related: Loquaciously; loquaciousness.

Entries linking to loquacious

"habit or practice of talking continually or excessively," c. 1200, from Latin loquacitatem (nominative loquacitas) "talkativeness," from loquax "talkative," from loqui "to speak" (from PIE root *tolkw- "to speak"). An Old English word for it was ofersprecolnes. Compare French loquacité, Spanish locuacidad, Italian loquacità.

"immoderate in speech," early 15c.; see talk (v.) + -ative. An early hybrid word in English. Originally especially "boastful," but now considered less pejorative than loquacious or garrulous. Related: Talkatively; talkativeness. An earlier Middle English word for "talkative" was tale-wise (Old English getæl-wis meant "skilled in computation").

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