inalienable

See also: inaliénable

English

WOTD – 4 July 2009

Etymology

Borrowed around 1645 from French inaliénable, from in- + aliénable (“alienable”), equivalent to in- +‎ alienable.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɪˈneɪ.lɪ.ə.nə.bəl/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɪˈneɪ.li.ə.nə.bəl/
  • Audio (Australia):(file)

Adjective

inalienable (not comparable)

  2. Not subject to being alienated, that is, surrendered, taken away, or transferred to another.
    Synonym: unalienable
    Antonym: alienable
    Coordinate term: nontransferable
    Near-synonyms: indelible, unsurrenderable, permanent
    An inalienable right is a right that cannot be given away nor taken away.
    • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 252:
      "Know thy own worth, and reverence the lyre," is a line that should be as a fillet bound round the brow—a philactory embroidered on the garments of every son and daughter of Adam distinguished by the possession of that sacred gift, which, whether used or abused, applauded in itself or derided in its possessor, is the highest and the most inalienable distinction humanity ever has or ever can be gifted with, whether bestowed on the highest or the humblest being, in the great mass to which we all belong.
    • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 369, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish):
      Liberalism in Struve's sense is above all a nominalist conception, rejecting the idea that any suprapersonal collective entity such as society or the state can claim to encroach upon the inalienable rights of the individual, his freedom and urge towards unlimited self-perfection.
  4. (grammar) Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts, regarding permanence.
    Synonym: unalienable
    Antonym: alienable
    Just as some languages have a "be" for permanent states (which are essential) and a different "be" for temporary states (which are incidental), some languages have a "have" for unchangeable possession (which is inalienable) and a different "have" for changeable possession (which is alienable).

Usage notes

While inalienable and unalienable are today used interchangeably (with inalienable the more common) the terms have historically sometimes been distinguished.[1]

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “Unalienable” vs. “Inalienable”, Alfred Adask, Adask’s law, July 15, 2009, 3:56 PM

Spanish

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Late Latin inalienabĭlis. By surface analysis, in- + alienable.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /inaljeˈnable/ [i.na.ljeˈna.β̞le]
    • Rhymes: -able
    • Syllabification: i‧na‧lie‧na‧ble

    Adjective

    inalienable m or f (masculine and feminine plural inalienables)

    1. inalienable
      Synonym: inajenable
      Antonym: alienable

    Derived terms

    Further reading

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