impossible

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɪmˈpɒs.ə.bᵊl/, US /ɪmˈpɑː.sə.bᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English impossibile,^[2] borrowed from Old French impossible,^[3][2] and directly from Latin impossibilis (“not possible”),^[3][4][5] from in- (“not”) and possibilis (“possible”).^[3][2] See possible.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not possible, that cannot be done or exist: before 1300 in the OED,^[6] before 1325 in Cursor Mundi in Barnhart (as “unbelievable”),^[2] and the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In mathematics it meant “having no real value, imaginary” from 1673.^[6] The weakened sense, “very hard to do or put up with”, of people and situations, is from the mid-19th century,^[3] or 1858 in the OED.^[6] As a noun, the impossible, “that which seems impossible”, is from 1839.^[6] The less common unpossible is also from the late 14th century.^[3] Impossibility is from about 1385, and impossibly from about 1410.^[2] In northern Yorkshire dialect an impossible being was an oddity.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1300 – not possible.^[6]
• c. 1385 – impossibility.^[2]
• 1673 – in mathematics, imaginary.^[6]
• 1839 – noun, the impossible.^[6]
• 1858 – unreasonable, intolerable.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not able to exist or happen.
2. Not able to be done: an impossible task.
3. Very difficult to deal with; intolerable: an impossible child.
4. Absurd or unacceptable.

Noun

1. the impossible: something that cannot be done or seems impossible.

Word family

• impossibly
• impossibleness
• impossibility

Related words

• possible
• potent
• posse

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)