How to pronounce mumpsimus
American English pronunciation
MUMP-sih-mus
- IPA
- /ˈmʌmpsɪməs/
- Syllables
- MUMP · sih · mus (3 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What mumpsimus means
An old mistake someone keeps making even after being corrected
In a sentence: Dad's mumpsimus is saying "libary," even though we have told him the right way a hundred times.
Where it comes from: It comes from an old story about a monk who read a Latin word wrong and kept saying it wrong even after he was corrected. It shows up in writing in 1530.
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