inestimable
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- inæstimable (archaic)
Etymology edit
From Middle French inestimable, from Latin inaestimābilis, from in (“un-”, “not”) + aestimābilis (“estimable”). Equivalent to in- + estimable.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
inestimable (not comparable)
- Not able to be estimated; not able to be calculated, computed or comprehended, as because of great scale, degree or magnitude.
- 1776, United States Declaration of Independence:
- He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
- The Voyager spacecraft explored the solar system and continued into the inestimable space beyond.
- Venerable, great.
- 1789, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 15:
- On my arrival hither I found a letter from the inestimable Mr. Wythe, by which he informs me that in consequence of a late act of our general assembly he remains the sole judge of the high court of chancery.
Translations edit
Not able to be estimated; not able to be calculated, computed or comprehended
Venerable, great
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References edit
- “inestimable, a. (n.)” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
inestimable (plural inestimables)
Further reading edit
- “inestimable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
inestimable m or f (masculine and feminine plural inestimables)
Further reading edit
- “inestimable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014