Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Joseph Worcester (1784–1865), lexicographer and author. From Hellenistic Greek πολυσχημάτιστος composed of various metres from ancient Greek πολυ- + σχηματ-, σχῆμα + -ιστος. Compare post-classical Latin polyschematistus. With use as noun compare Hellenistic Greek πολυσχημάτιστον variety of rhetorical forms.