Promiscuous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /prəˈmɪskjuːəs/

Origin

From Latin prōmiscuus ("mixed, not separated"), from prō ("forth") + misceō ("mix").

Full definition of promiscuous

Adjective

1. Made up of various disparate elements mixed together; of disorderly composition.
• 1667, John Milton, , Book 1, ll. 379-80Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
  While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof.
• Eliot Middlemarch|1they had both been educated ... on plans at once narrow and promiscuous, first in an English family and afterwards in a Swiss family at Lausanne, their bachelor uncle and guardian trying in this way to remedy the disadvantages of their orphaned condition.
2. Made without careful choice; indiscriminate.
3. Indiscriminate in choice of sexual partners.
4. (networking) The mode in which a Network card gathers all network traffic instead of getting only the traffic intended for it.

Synonyms

• (made up of various disparate elements) motley

Derived terms

• promiscuity
• promiscuousness