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Webster 1913 Edition

Desultory

Des′ul-to-ry

,
Adj.
[L.
desultorius
, fr.
desultor
a leaper, fr.
desilire
,
desultum
, to leap down;
de
+
salire
to leap. See
Saltation
.]
1.
Leaping or skipping about.
[Obs.]
I shot at it [a bird], but it was so
desultory
that I missed my aim.
Gilbert White.
2.
Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless;
as,
desultory
minds
.
Atterbury.
He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been
desultory
.
Macaulay.
Syn. – Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.

Webster 1828 Edition

Desultory

DESULTORY

,
Adj.
[L., to leap.]
1.
Leaping; passing from one thing or subject to another, without order or natural connection; unconnected; immethodical; as a desultory conversation.
2.
Coming suddenly; started at the moment; not proceeding from natural order or connection with what precedes; as a desultory thought.

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