In ancient Rome, a circus performer who jumped from horse to horse during a performance; a person who is habitually inconsistent or jumps from topic to topic.
From Latin 'desultor,' derived from 'desulire' (to jump down), from 'de-' (down) plus 'salire' (to jump). The Romans used this word for circus acrobats, but it metaphorically came to mean someone scattered or unfocused.
Ancient Roman circuses had professional horse-jumping performers called desultors, and watching someone leap between galloping horses was apparently as dangerous and thrilling as a modern action movie—plus the word stuck around to describe distracted people!
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