alieniloquyn.
/ˌeɪlɪəˈnɪləkwi/, U.S. /ˌeɪliəˈnɪləkwi/, /ˌeɪljəˈnɪləkwi/ rare (literary in later use).
An instance of straying from the subject one is supposed to be talking about; rambling or evasive talk.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > unintelligible language, gibberish > [noun]
jargon1340
gibberishc1557
fustiana1593
hibber-gibber1593
rabble?1593
gabbling1599
rantum-scantum1599
ribble-rabble1601
gabble1602
High Dutch1602
Greek1603
baragouin1614
galimatias1653
riddle-me-ree1678
clink-clank1679
Hebrew1705
alieniloquy1727
jabber1735
mumbo-jumbo1738
gibbering1786
rigmarole1809
gibber1832
rigmarolery1833
Babelism1834
jargoning1837
barrikin1851
abracadabra1867
double Dutch1876
jabberwock1902
jabberwocky1908
jibber-jabber1922
mumbo-jumbery1923
mumbo1931
double-talk1938
garbology1944
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > copiousness > [noun] > discursiveness or digression > a digression
sojournc1330
digressionc1374
adigression1483
start1534
interposition1553
vagary1572
excursion1574
excourse1579
parecbasis1584
parenthesis1594
transversal1612
evagation1618
passage1625
far-about1639
excurrency1650
deviation1665
parathesis1668
alieniloquy1727
side-slip1843
excursus1845
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Alieniloquy, a talking wide from the Purpose, or not to the matter in Hand.
1988 T. Wynne-Jones Fastyngange 87 In my dream she lived only to magnify my existence. Like an intravenous poison I kept topping her up. And then rain interrupted my alieniloquy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1727