intangible

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtæn(d)ʒɪbl̩/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation); /ɪnˈtænd͡ʒɪbl̩/:

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England); /ɪnˈtænd͡ʒɪbl̩/:

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtænd͡ʒəb(ə)l/
• Rhymes: -ændʒɪbəl
• Hyphenation: in‧tang‧i‧ble

Adjective

intangible (comparative more intangible, superlative most intangible)

1. Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal.

   Antonym: tangible

2. Difficult to define or describe clearly, but nonetheless perceived.

   an intangible quality of serenity in the music

Derived terms

• intangible asset
• intangible cultural heritage
• intangibleness
• intangibly

Translations

incapable of being perceived

• Arabic: غَيْر مَلْمُوس (ḡayr malmūs), مَعْنَوِيّ (maʕnawiyy)
• Bulgarian: неуловим (bg) (neulovim), неосезаем (bg) (neosezaem)
• Catalan: intangible
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無形的 / 无形的 (wúxíng de)

• Czech: nehmatatelný, nehmotný
• Dutch: ontastbaar (nl), ongrijpbaar (nl)
• Finnish: abstrakti (fi), aineeton (fi)
• French: intangible (fr), immatériel (fr)
• German: abstrakt (de), ungreifbar (de), immateriell (de), vage (de), unklar (de)
• Greek: ασαφής (el) m or f (asafís), ακαθόριστος (el) m (akathóristos), αδιόρατος (el) m (adióratos), αόριστος (el) m (aóristos)
• Indonesian: takbenda
• Italian: intangibile (it)
• Japanese: 無形 (ja) (mukei)
• Kazakh: бейматериалдық (beymaterıyaldıq), материалды емес (materıyaldı emes), материалдық емес (materıyaldıq emes)
• Latin: intactilis
• Manx: neuventynagh, neuloaghtagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: immateriell

  Nynorsk: immateriell

• Polish: nieuchwytny (pl) m
• Portuguese: intangível (pt)
• Romanian: intangibil (ro) m, de neatins, nepalpabil m
• Russian: неосяза́емый (ru) (neosjazájemyj), неулови́мый (ru) (neulovímyj)
• Spanish: intangible (es)

Noun

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. Anything intangible.
   • 1980 April 5, Aaron Cohen, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, in Gay Community News, page 12:

     Diaghilev's love for Nijinsky was as deep and as sincere and reliant as a bond could be, it being based on all those intangibles of love that cannot be enumerated.

2. (law) Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes.

Translations

anything intangible

• Dutch: ontastbare (nl) n
• Finnish: aineeton asia
• Greek: άυλος (el) m (áylos)
• Japanese: 触れられないもの

French

Etymology

From in- +‎ tangible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.ʒibl/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧tan‧gible

Adjective

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. intangible

   Synonym: immatériel

   Antonym: tangible

Derived terms

• intangiblement

See also

• impalpable
• insensible
• intouchable

Further reading

• “intangible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-

Proto-Italic *tangō

Latin tangō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Late Latin tangibilis

Medieval Latin intangibilislbor.

Spanish intangible

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tangō (“to touch”) + -bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intanˈxible/ [ĩn̪.t̪ãŋˈxi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: in‧tan‧gi‧ble

Adjective

intangible m or f (masculine and feminine plural intangibles)

1. intangible

   Antonym: tangible

Derived terms

• intangibilidad
• intangiblemente

Related terms

• tangible

Further reading

• “intangible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026