impossibility

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English impossibilite, also spelled impossibilitie,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French impossibilité^[2][4] and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin impossibilitās,^[4][5][3][6] from impossibilis (“impossible”), formed from in- (“not”) and possibilis (“possible”).^[6][4] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the 13th century.^[7] Etymonline instead analyses the word as impossible with the suffix -ity, perhaps modelled on the French noun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of being impossible, and a contradiction or flaw in reasoning: both in Usk, written about 1385 and printed in 1532.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century,^[8] while the OED, whose entry is not fully revised, has nothing before about 1450.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning the noun named both the abstract quality and, with an, a thing that cannot be or be done; the Middle English Dictionary has the second from 1440, in Capgrave.^[2] From the 15th to the 18th century it could also mean inability or impotence, after the same use of the word in Medieval Latin medieval Latin;^[4][8][2] the OED's last example is from 1796.^[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as impracticability, the state of being not feasible, and quoted Sidney: "it is the impossibility that doth torment me".^[9] In 1673 J. Wallis used it in mathematics for the quality of being imaginary, a rare sense.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records it of a person who is impossible to deal with: "his sheer impossibility".^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – the fact of being impossible; a contradiction in reasoning.^[2]
• before 1425 – inability, incapacity (obsolete by 1796).^[2][4]
• 1440 – something that cannot be or be done.^[2]
• c. 1500 – an impossible thing, with an and a plural.^[4]
• before 1530 – the quality of being impossible.^[4]
• 1673 – in mathematics, the quality of being imaginary.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being impossible: the impossibility of proving the claim.^[10][5][4]
2. Something that is impossible: Finishing by Friday was an impossibility.^[10][4]
3. The quality of being impossible to deal with by reasonable means, as of a difficult person.^[5]
4. (obsolete) inability or impotence.^[4][2]

Related words

• impossible
• possible
• possibility

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins