Volage

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A person characterized by fickleness or changeability in emotions or opinions can also refer to someone who is capricious and inconsistent in affection or loyalty
2. Someone who displays unpredictability in feelings or commitments may be seen as erratic and unreliable in relationships or decisions
3. The notion of being whimsical applies to an individual known for their shifting loyalties or fluctuating emotions, often leading to instability in personal connections

Etymology: The adjective "volage" arrived in English from Old French, where it meant "flighty" or "fickle." Its ancestor is the Latin "volāticus," built from "volare," "to fly," so the word's core image is something that flits from place to place. A fickle person, in this sense, is one who keeps taking wing, moving from one attachment or opinion to another as a bird moves from branch to branch. The Latin root connects it to a family of flying words, most famously "volatile," which also descends from "volare" and once described things that readily flew off into the air as vapour. English kept the flight image in the adjective while narrowing its focus to the mind and heart, so that a volage person is changeable in feeling or allegiance rather than in location.