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▪ I. prolix, a.|ˈprəʊlɪks, prəʊˈlɪks|
[a. F. prolixe (14th c. in Littré) or ad. L. prōlix-us extended, long, prolix, etc., app. etymologically, ‘that has flowed forth’, f. prō-, pro-1 + *lix-us, pa. pple. of liquēre to flow, to be liquid.]
1. Of long duration, lengthy, protracted.
a. In general.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 3568 Þe obseruaunce of swiche religious, Prolix in werkyng & not compendious. 1652Benlowes Theoph. xiii. xvii, He shuns prolixer lawsuits, nor does wait At thoughtful Grandies prouder gate. 1686A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus xv. 367 This actual preparation is either more prolix, or more compendious. The prolix, or longer actual preparation is necessary. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 81 If the Appellant appoints a Term too prolix or none at all, the Judge may then assign a competent Term. 1741Watts Improv. Mind i. xvi. §3 If the chain of consequences be a little prolix. 1744Armstrong Preserv. Health iii. 460 While the buried bacchanal Exhales his surfeit in prolixer dreams. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 8 Mother's was a prolix and generally rather inelegant parturition.
b. spec. Of a speech or writing: Extended to great length; long; lengthy. Usually with implication of excessive length: wordy, tedious.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 325 Iustinianus..coartede the lawes of the Romanes, occupyenge allemoste..iij. c. m1 versus, as is prolixe [L. prolixa] dissonaunce, within oon volume of xij. bookes. c1500Melusine 214 What shuld I bring forth prolixe or long talkyng? 1598Dallington Meth. Trav. X iv, To speake thus particularly of all his seuerall humours and customes, would bee very prolixe. a1651Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 331 Prolixe prayers, hindering the preaching of the Word. 1717Prior Alma iii. 511 Should I, my friend, at large repeat..The bead-roll of her vicious tricks; My poem will be too prolix. 1865Grote Plato I. vi. 237 They are intolerant of all that is prolix, circuitous, not essential to the proof of the thesis in hand.
2. Of a person: Given to or characterized by tedious lengthiness in discourse or writing; long-winded.
1527R. Thorne in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 257, I should be to prolixe. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 184 If any man shall think me prolix and tedious in this place, I must for that point craue pardon. 1685J. Chamberlayne Coffee, Tea & Choc. 108 That I may not seem too prolix, and to trespass on the Readers patience. 1758Johnson Idler No. 1 ⁋11 Conscious dulness has little right to be prolix. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. vii, But not to be too prolix, it will suffice to say, that we made many trips during several months. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xcviii. 1 Asks some booby rebuke, some prolix prattler a judgment?
3. Long in measurement or extent. Now rare.
1650Bulwer Anthropomet. viii. (1653) 142 Men that were lately found.., whose Ears are so prolix, that they hang down even unto the ground. 1656Artif. Handsom. 187 [A] fatherly, prolixe, and reverentiall beard. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. xviii. 68 Such large and prolix Shadows might Christianity cast. 1728Swift My Lady's Lament. 77 My fingers, prolix, Are ten crooked sticks. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 361 With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist. 1857Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) I. 414 Long prolix beards appear..on some figures, to mark the virile or senile age.
▪ II. † proˈlix, v. Obs. rare—1.
[f. prec. adj.]
intr. (with it). To be prolix or tedious.
1656S. H. Gold. Law 88, I am afraid that I have transgrest both in quantity and quality,..so by encroaching on your Highness patience in prolixing it. |