omnium-gatherum en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌɒm.nɪəmˈɡæ.ðə.ɹəm/ (UK)
- /ˌɑm.ni.əmˈɡæ.ðɚ.əm/ (US)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Dog Latin, a reduplication derived from Latin omnium (“of all”) and gather + Latin -um, suggesting a collection of everything.
Meanings
-
A collection containing a variety of miscellaneous things.
But out of the water he dared not put his head; for the rain came down by bucketsful, and the hail hammered like shot on the stream, and churned it into foam; and soon the stream rose, and rushed down, higher and higher, and fouler and fouler, full of beetles, and sticks; and straws, and worms, and addle-eggs, and wood-lice, and leeches, and odds and ends, and omnium-gatherums, and this, that, and the other, enough to fill nine museums.
1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby:We live in the era of Omnium-Gatherum; all the world's a museum, and men and women are its students. To design any building in England nowadays is therefore to work under the eye, so to speak, of the Society of Antiquaries.
1864, Robert Kerr, The Gentleman's House, page 342:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gatherum | alternative | lexicographic | |
| omnium-gatherums | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| omnigatherum | alternative | lexicographic | |
| omnium-gathera | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| omnium gatherum | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
cocktail · medley · clamjamfrey · hotchpot · rummage · mishmash · disjecta membra · gallery · motley · macedoine · crazyquilt · miscellanea · salad · anthology · omnium-gatherum · gatherum · horse and rabbit stew · bouillabaisse · jumble · potpourri · galimatias · oddments · mingle-mangle · welter · gallimaufry · slurry · Whitman's sampler · bric-a-brac · miscellany · catch-all · ragbag · olla podrida · patchwork quilt · smorgasbord · farrago · salmagundi · hodgepodge · mixed bag · melange · congeries · grab bag · olio · hotchpotch · mixture · job lot · pastiche · odds and ends