incomprehensible

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle French incomprehensible, from Latin incomprehensibilis. Equivalent to in- +‎ comprehensible.

Pronunciation

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  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌɪnkɑmpɹəˈhɛnsɪbəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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incomprehensible (comparative more incomprehensible, superlative most incomprehensible)

  1. 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.'
  2. (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

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Antonyms

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Translations

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Noun

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incomprehensible (plural incomprehensibles)

  1. Anything that is beyond understanding.

Translations

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Further reading

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Middle French

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Etymology

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First known attestation 1314, borrowed from Latin incomprehensibilis.[1]

Adjective

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incomprehensible m or f (plural incomprehensibles)

  1. incomprehensible

Descendants

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  • English: incomprehensible

References

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  1. ^ Etymology and history of incompréhensible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.