erratic

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

any geologic material which is not native to the immediate locale but has been transported from elsewhere
geologic material transported from one locale to another by glacial-ice specifically, unqualified as the most common type of erratic

Pronunciation: /ɪˈɹætɪk/ / /əˈɹɛtək/

Etymology: From Middle English erratik, erratyk, from Latin errāticus; compare Old French erratique.

Unsteady, random; prone to unexpected changes; not consistent.
“Henry has been getting erratic scores on his tests: 40% last week, but 98% this week.”
“The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles.”
Deviating from normal opinions or actions; eccentric; odd.
“erratic conduct”

Etymology: From Middle English erratik, erratyk, from Latin errāticus; compare Old French erratique.

A rock moved from one location to another, usually by a glacier.
“The term for a displaced boulder is an erratic, but in the nineteenth century the expression seemed to apply more often to the theories than to the rocks.”
“During the last ice-age, massive stones were carried for miles by the scouring glaciers, only to be left, like passengers at the end of the line, when the glaciers retreated. Stranded in their new surroundings with rocks with which they share no common geology, their out-of-place-ness is evoked by their name: “erratics”.”
Anything that has erratic characteristics.