HETEROCLITE, HETEROCLITON, in grammar, an irregular or anomalous word, which either in declension, conjugation, or regimen, deviates from the ordinary rules of grammar. The word is Greek, ἑτεροκλίτης; formed of ἑτερος alter, "another, different," and κλίμα, "I decline."
Heteroclite is more peculiarly applied to nouns which vary or are irregular in point of declension; having fewer cases, numbers, &c. than ordinary; or that are of one declension in one number, and another in another: as, Hec vas, vasis; hac vasa, vasorum.