innumerable

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ numerable; from Middle English innumerable, from Latin innumerābilis, from in- +‎ numerābilis.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnuːməɹ.əbəl/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnjuːməɹ.əbəl/

• Audio (Northwestern US):

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• Audio (US):

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Adjective

innumerable (comparative more innumerable, superlative most innumerable)

1. Not capable of being counted, enumerated, or numbered.

   The casualties of the Second World War were so great that they are innumerable.

   • 1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC:

     Soon we could see the innumerable banners fluttering, and then the sun struck the sea of armor and set it all aflash.

2. Of a very high number; extremely numerous.
   • 1939, Wilhelm Filchner, “Issik Pakhta—The Sarts—Good-bye to Borodijin”, in E. O. Lorimer, transl., A Scientist in Tartary: from the Hoang-ho to the Indus‎^[1], London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC, page 211:

     The wide sandy plain of the valley, some five miles long, which slopes imperceptibly down to Issik Pakhta, is overgrown with minute bushes. All the tiny streams we crossed unite to form the Alessun Gol, which then flows westwards to the pasture grounds of Kala Otlak. We observed dozens of herds of orongo, mainly females, with innumerable young. The landscape looked highly unpromising for agriculture yet I noticed that the folk of Bulaq Bashi planted grain. Four hours’ marching took us to within sight of Issik Pakhta Nor, which the maps also record as Khon Qum Nor.

   • 1955 July, M. D. Greville, “To the Valdres by Rail”, in Railway Magazine, pages 457-458:

     Kjelsås (six miles) marks the end of the suburbs, and the line immediately plunges into Nordmarka. This vast untamed area of forest and mountain (much of it over 2,000 ft. above sea level), interspersed with innumerable lakes, large and small, is known as Oslo's playground.

Synonyms

• countless, numberless, unnumbered, unnumberable, untold; see also Thesaurus:innumerable

Derived terms

• innumerableness
• innumerably

Related terms

• innumeracy
• innumerate

Translations

not capable of being counted — see countless

References

• “innumerable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin innumerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [in.nu.məˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.nu.meˈɾa.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [in.nu.meˈɾab.ble]

Adjective

innumerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural innumerables)

1. innumerable

   Synonym: innombrable

Further reading

• “innumerable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “innumerable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “innumerable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “innumerable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Italic *n̥-

Latin in-

Proto-Indo-European *nem-

Proto-Italic *nomezos

Latin numerus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin numerō

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlomder.

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin numerābilis

Latin innumerābilisbor.

Spanish innumerable

Borrowed from Latin innumerābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /innumeˈɾable/ [ĩn.nu.meˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧nu‧me‧ra‧ble

Adjective

innumerable m or f (masculine and feminine plural innumerables)

1. innumerable

Further reading

• “innumerable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025