capricious

Etymology

Recorded in the 1590s in the sense “humorous”, and from c. 1600 as “apt to change the mind suddenly, fickle”.^[1] It is borrowed from Middle French capricieux (“whimsical”),^[2][1] from Italian capriccioso,^[3][4] from Italian capriccio.^[1][2]

By surface analysis, from English caprice + -ious.^[2]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] [3] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. [1] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. [1] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House