| compound split infinitive |
| Definition: A split infinitive that has been split by a multi-word phrase. |
| Example:
Try to never ever split your infinitives. (In the above, the infinitive is to split and the phrase that splits it is never ever.) |
| Etymology:
The word infinitive derives from the Latin infinitivus, unlimited or indefinite. Note: Diomedes called the Latin version the infinitivus, because it doesn't have a definite person or number. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first citation is from 1520: "Quis, qui, is … gouerned … somtyme of ye infinytyue mode folowynge." (Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 3) |