Nomadic

How to spell nomadic

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce nomadic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nomadic mean?

1. adjectiveLiving by moving from place to place rather than settling permanently, or characteristic of such a lifestyle.

Nomadic in a sentence

• The consultant lived a nomadic life, working from a different city each month.

• Their ancestors followed a nomadic pattern, driving herds across the open plains.

Where does nomadic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek nomas, with the stem nomad-, which described a person or tribe that roamed in search of grazing land for their flocks. That noun grew out of the verb nemein, meaning 'to pasture' or 'to put out to graze', so the original idea was tightly bound to herders moving their animals from field to field. Greek passed the word to Latin as nomas, and from there it travelled into French as nomade before settling into English. The adjective 'nomadic' appears in English from the early 1800s, formed by adding the familiar -ic ending to the noun 'nomad'. A useful memory hook is that the single 'm' and the 'ad' in the middle come straight from the Greek stem nomad-, so the spelling mirrors the noun it is built on.

How the word is built

• nomad (from Greek nomas: roaming for pasture)
• -ic (adjective suffix: of or relating to)