[‘ Excessive talkativeness or loquaciousness; prolixity.']
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌmʌlˈtɪləkw(ə)ns/, U.S. /məlˈtɪləkw(ə)ns/
Etymology: < post-classical Latin /multiloquentia/ (Vetus Latina; translating ancient Greek /πολυλογία/ polylogy n.) < /multi-/ multi- comb. form + /-loquentia/ -loquence comb. form. Compare earlier multiloquent adj. and multiloquiousness n., multiloquy n.
Now rare.
Excessive talkativeness or loquaciousness; prolixity.
1760 ‘J. Copywell’ /Shrubs Parnassus/ 147 Where Clamour wages war with Sense, And Oratory centres in Multiloquence.
1846 J. E. Worcester /Universal Dict. Eng. Lang./, /Multiloquence/, quality of being multiloquent; loquacity, talkativeness. [Citing J. Q. Adams.]
1893 /Temple Bar/ *97* 625 He would invariably flounder astray in his own multiloquence.
1923 /Science/ 6 Apr. 418/1 Perhaps their silence on this matter, as contrasted with their relative multiloquence on the pedigree culture data, is indicative of a capacity to judge the comparative importance of the facts.
1952 /Daily Tel./ 23 Jan. 4/6 Multiloquence characterised by a consummate interfusion of circumlocution.