HISPERIC STYLE

a style of Latin writing that probably originated in the British Isles in the 7th century. It is characterized by extreme obscurity intentionally produced by periphrasis (preference for a longer phrase over a shorter, equally adequate phrase), coinage of new words, and very liberal use of loanwords to express quite ordinary meanings. The style takes its name from the Hisperica famina (Hisperic Sayings), a work probably composed in Ireland in the mid-7th century. The word is from the Medieval Latin Hispericus (an alteration of Hespericus), Western or Latin, hence probably meaning (in reference to Latin style) urbane or elegant.