inflammable
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French inflammable, from Medieval Latin īnflammābilis, from Latin īnflammāre (“to set on fire”), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
inflammable (comparative more inflammable, superlative most inflammable)
- Capable of burning; easily set on fire.
- Synonyms: combustible, flammable
- Antonyms: fireproof, incombustible, nonflammable, noninflammable, uninflammable
- 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure[1]:
- On he went a few paces and touched a second, then a third, and a fourth, till at last we were surrounded on all three sides by a great ring of bodies flaring furiously, the material with which they were preserved having rendered them so inflammable that the flames would literally spout out of the ears and mouth in tongues of fire a foot or more in length.
- (figuratively) Easily excited; set off by the slightest excuse; easily enraged or inflamed.
- Synonyms: hot-headed, quick to anger
- Antonyms: level-headed, unflappable
- Incapable of burning; not easily set on fire.
- Synonyms: fireproof, incombustible, nonflammable, noninflammable, uninflammable
- Antonyms: combustible, flammable
Usage notesEdit
- Inflammable, although originally meant as a synonym of flammable, is nowadays often used as an antonym of flammable, and, as such, may be taken to have the opposite meaning to that intended (depending on whether the writer and/or the reader use inflammable as a synonym, or as an antonym, of flammable). Where such confusion might arise, especially where this may be a safety hazard, one may prefer to use flammable or non-flammable (depending on whether inflammable would have been used as a synonym or as an antonym of flammable) or another synonym.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
capable of burning — See also translations at flammable
easily excited
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NounEdit
inflammable (plural inflammables)
- Any inflammable substance.
Further readingEdit
- inflammable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- inflammable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French inflammer + -able, from Latin īnflammābilis.
PronunciationEdit
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.fla.mabl/
Audio (Switzerland) (file) - Homophone: inflammables
- Hyphenation: in‧fla‧mmable
AdjectiveEdit
inflammable (plural inflammables)
- flammable, inflammable
- Antonym: ininflammable
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “inflammable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).