mihi itch

noun

The ambition to publish and name large numbers of taxa as a form of personal aggrandizement.

OriginLatin mihī̆ →
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Meanings

nounmihi itch (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiologyThe ambition to publish and name large numbers of taxa as a form of personal aggrandizement.

    Unscrupulous individuals can and do jump freely into taxonomy to satisfy their ‘mihi itch’ by engaging in a practice called ‘taxonomic vandalism’ creating taxon names without proper scientific work to back them up.

    2023, Wolfgang Denzer, Hinrich Kaiser, “Naming And Gaming: The Illicit Taxonomic Practice Of 'Nomenclatural Harvesting' And How To Avoid It”, in Journal of Zoology, volume 320, number 3, page 161

Origin

  1. Latinmihī̆
  2. Englishmihi itch

From Latin mihī̆, dative of egō̆ (“I”), + itch.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mihi itch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihi%20itch

MLA

“mihi itch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihi%20itch. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mihi itch,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mihi%20itch.

Source: mihi itch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.