interminable

English

Etymology

From Middle English interminable, from Middle French interminable and its etymon Late Latin interminābilis.[1][2] By surface analysis, in- +‎ terminable.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective

interminable (comparative more interminable, superlative most interminable)

  1. Existing or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending.
    • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Crawley of Queen’s Crawley”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 61:
      After supper Sir Pitt Crawley began to smoke his pipe; and when it became quite dark, he lighted the rushlight in the tin candlestick, and producing from an interminable pocket a huge mass of papers, began reading them, and putting them in order.
    • 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 193:
      The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway.
    • 1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Through the Valley of the Shadow”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 137:
      It was now a beautiful, moonlit night. The air was crisp and invigorating. Behind them lay the interminable vista of the desert, dotted here and there with an occasional oasis.
    • 1983 February 5, Joseph Van Ness, “Keeping It Alive”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 28, page 10:
      Life's interminable succession of stages.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

interminable (plural interminables)

  1. (mathematics, dated) A repeating decimal.

References

  1. ^ “interminable, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ “intermināble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Catalan

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Latin interminābilis.

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    interminable m or f (masculine and feminine plural interminables)

    1. interminable, unending

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

      Learned borrowing from Latin interminābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ terminer +‎ -able.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      interminable (plural interminables)

      1. unending, endless, ceaseless, never-ending

      Further reading

      Spanish

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /inteɾmiˈnable/ [ĩn̪.t̪eɾ.miˈna.β̞le]
      • Rhymes: -able
      • Syllabification: in‧ter‧mi‧na‧ble

      Adjective

      interminable m or f (masculine and feminine plural interminables)

      1. interminable
        Synonym: inacabable
      2. unending
        Synonym: infinito

      Derived terms

      Further reading

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