inaction

Etymology

It is formed from English in- + action, with the negative prefix.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Etymonline suggests that it may have been modelled on French inaction,^[3] and the OED compares the French word, recorded from 1647.^[2] Johnson (1755) derived it from French.^[7] Action is from Anglo-Norman accioun, from Latin āctiō (“a doing, performing”), from agō (“to do, drive”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Absence of action or activity; inertia, passivity: 1638, in a text by A. Baker.^[2] The revised OED entry (2021) has pushed the date back well before the 1705 of Etymonline and the 1707 of Merriam-Webster.^[3][6] The Shorter Oxford dates it to the mid 17th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its single sense of a lack of action.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "cessation from labour; forbearance of labour" and quoted Pope's "I lie in a refreshing kind of inaction".^[7] Etymonline glosses it as "want of action, idleness".^[3] The OED notes that the related noun inactivity is recorded slightly later.^[2]

Timeline

• 1638 – absence of action; inertia, passivity.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1705, Merriam-Webster to 1707.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lack of action or activity; idleness or inertia: Voters were angry at the council's inaction over the flooding.^[8][6][2]

Related words

• inactive
• inactivity
• action
• act

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins