| capricious \kuh-PRISH-us; -PREE-shus\ (adjective) - Apt to change suddenly; whimsical; changeable.
"To know that life can be truly capricious; that one is not omnipotent; that without magic as the ultimate defense., there is pain at times which hurts more..." -- Patrick O'Leary, 'The Gift'
Capricious comes, via French, from Italian capriccio, a shivering, a shudder, finally (influenced by Italian capra, goat) a whim, from capo, head (from Latin caput) + riccio, hedgehog (from Latin ericius). The basic idea is that of a head with hair standing on end, like the spines of a hedgehog. |
