impossible
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- inpossible (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Old French impossible, from Latin impossibilis, from in- (“not”) + possibilis (“possible”), from possum (“to be able”) + suffix -ibilis (“-able”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
impossible (comparative more impossible, superlative most impossible)
- Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
- 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, scene i:
- Antonio: What impossible matter will he make easy next?
- Sebastian: I think he will carry this island home in his pocket and give it his son for an apple.
- Antonio : And sowing the kernels of it in the sea bring forth more islands.
- 1787, “The History of Europe”, in The Annual Register, or A View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Years 1784 and 1785, volume XXVII, London: Printed by J[ames] Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, OCLC 874176698, chapter VIII, page 134, column 1:
- It was impoſſible that the queen of France [Marie Antoinette] ſhould not be deeply affected by a conteſt, which ſo cloſely involved her neareſt and deareſt connections, and threatened ſo immediate and perhaps irreparable a breach of the harmony and friendſhip ſubſiſting between them.
- 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- Nothing is impossible, only impassible.
- 13 March 1962, John F. Kennedy
- Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
- It is difficult, if not impossible, to memorize 20,000 consecutive numbers.
- Sarah thinks that nothing is impossible because things can always somehow happen.
- 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, scene i:
- (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
- You never listen to a word I say – you're impossible!
- (mathematics, dated) imaginary
- impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers
SynonymsEdit
- unpossible (rare)
AntonymsEdit
- (not able to be done or happen): possible, inevitable
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
not able to be done
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very difficult to deal with
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never happening
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NounEdit
impossible (plural impossibles)
- (obsolete) an impossibility
- Late 14th century: “Madame,” quod he, “this were an impossible!” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales
TranslationsEdit
an impossibility
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CatalanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin impossibilis, equivalent to in- + possible.
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
impossible (masculine and feminine plural impossibles)
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
impossible (plural impossibles)
Further readingEdit
- “impossible” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).