inalienable

See also: inaliénable

English edit

WOTD – 4 July 2009

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Inalienable possession

Wikipedia

Etymology edit

Borrowed around 1645 from French inaliénable, from in- + aliénable (“alienable”).

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈneɪ.lɪ.ə.nə.bəl/
(US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈneɪ.li.ə.nə.bəl/
Audio (AU) (file)

Adjective edit

inalienable (not comparable)

Incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred to another; not alienable.
An inalienable right is a right that cannot be given away
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 252:
  "Know thy own worth, and reverence the lyre," is a line that should be as a fillet bound round the brow—a philactory embroidered on the garments of every son and daughter of Adam distinguished by the possession of that sacred gift, which, whether used or abused, applauded in itself or derided in its possessor, is the highest and the most inalienable distinction humanity ever has or ever can be gifted with, whether bestowed on the highest or the humblest being, in the great mass to which we all belong.
(grammar) Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts.

Usage notes edit

While inalienable and unalienable are today used interchangeably (with inalienable the more common) the terms have historically sometimes been distinguished.^[1]