Tudor & Stuart · insult · noun
Mumpsimus
MUMP-sih-mus /ˈmʌmpsɪməs/pronunciation given by a dictionary
First recorded1530
A person who clings to an old error even after it has been pointed out, or the stubbornly repeated error itself. It comes from a joke about a priest who misread the Latin 'sumpsimus' ('we have taken') as 'mumpsimus' and refused to correct it.
Where it was first recorded
William Tyndale, The Practice of Prelates (1530)
Also spelled: mumsimus
In its own time
But all the chancellors of England (say men) which be all lawyers, and other doctors, mumpsimuses of divinity, were called up suddenly to dispute the matter
Today
Modern exampleHe is a proper mumpsimus about spreadsheets: shown the formula error twice, he still types the old numbers in by hand.
Fine to use; it is a learned, harmless jab at someone who will not give up a known mistake.
Questions
What does mumpsimus mean?
A person who clings to an old error even after it has been pointed out, or the stubbornly repeated error itself. It comes from a joke about a priest who misread the Latin 'sumpsimus' ('we have taken') as 'mumpsimus' and refused to correct it.
When was mumpsimus first used?
It is first recorded 1530 — William Tyndale, The Practice of Prelates (1530).
Can you still use mumpsimus today?
Fine to use; it is a learned, harmless jab at someone who will not give up a known mistake.
Sources
- A Glossary ... particularly Shakespeare and his contemporaries (new ed., vol. 2) — Robert Nares (1888 edition, archive.org)
- A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words (vol. 2) — J. O. Halliwell
- Mumpsimus — World Wide Words (Michael Quinion)
- mumpsimus — Wiktionary
- mumpsimus — Dictionary.com (Random House Unabridged)
- mumpsimus — Merriam-Webster
- Expositions and Notes ... together with The Practice of Prelates (Parker Society, 1849) — William Tyndale, ed. Henry Walter (archive.org)
Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: attested — found in the dictionaries and texts listed above