Origin: Latin suffix -ous
Capricious has 3 different meanings across 1 category:
determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
"a capricious refusal"
"authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"
"the victim of whimsical persecutions"
Impulsive and unpredictable; determined by chance, impulse, or whim.
The word comes from the Italian capriccioso, meaning "whimsical," which was borrowed into Middle French before entering English. It is related to the noun capriccio, referring to a sudden impulse or whim.