incomprehensible
See also: incompréhensible
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French incomprehensible, from Latin incomprehensibilis. Equivalent to in- + comprehensible.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
incomprehensible (comparative more incomprehensible, superlative most incomprehensible)
- Impossible or very difficult to understand.
- 1904-09, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, published 1962
- But this inference, which is supported by the opening of Book I, renders incomprehensible the note "and I have finished writing this," which is included within the dream.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:
- In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent.
- 1990, Greg Bear, Heads:
- He shook his head. 'It's not only undefined, it's incomprehensible. Even the QL is befuddled by it and can't give me straight answers.'
- 1904-09, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, published 1962
- (theology or literary) Which cannot be contained; boundless, infinite.
- 1969, “The Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom: Liturgy of Offering”, in Joseph Raya, transl., edited by José de Vinck, Byzantine Daily Worship[1], Alleluia Press, page 282:
- Prayer to God the Father: It is fitting and right to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, to worship You in every place of your dominion: for You are God, beyond description, beyond understanding, invisible, incomprehensible, always existing, always the same; You and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
- comprehensible, understandable; See also Thesaurus:comprehensible
Related terms edit
Translations edit
impossible or very difficult to understand
Noun edit
incomprehensible (plural incomprehensibles)
- Anything that is beyond understanding.
Translations edit
anything that is beyond understanding
|
Further reading edit
- “incomprehensible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “incomprehensible”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
First known attestation 1314, borrowed from Latin incomprehensibilis.[1]
Adjective edit
incomprehensible m or f (plural incomprehensibles)
Descendants edit
- → English: incomprehensible
References edit
- ^ Etymology and history of “incompréhensible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.