Word of the day: protean

The word of the day is protean:

< the name of Proteus (see Proteus n.) + -an suffix. Compare French Protéen (1571 and 1580 in isolated attestations in Middle French as protean; subsequently from 1869).

A. adj.

1. Of or relating to Proteus, like that of Proteus. Hence in extended use: adopting or existing in various shapes, variable in form; variously manifested or expressed; changing, unpredictable.

2. Biol. Designating protozoans (esp. amoebas) which can vary their shape. Cf. Proteus n. 2a. Obs.

3. Theatre. Of a performance: having the same actors playing several parts in the same piece; (of a performer) playing several characters in the same piece, ‘quick-change’. Cf. sense B. 1b. 

4. Zool. Of animal behaviour: unpredictable and confusing, thus providing a defence against predators.  (OED)

"Rush's performance is a series of wonderful protean transformations.  During the course of the evening, as his desperation increases, Poprishchin becomes a gobbling turkey, a baboon, a peacock, a dog, and, finally, on 'April 43rd', King Ferdinand of Spain, underscoring his royal signature with a Baroque flourish."

 - John Lahr, "Stir Crazy: Delusions in Adam Rapp, Nikolai Gogol, and the Wooster Group", 7 March 2011 The New Yorker