inexplicable

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inexplicābilis (“that cannot be unfolded or disentangled; very intricate”),^[2][3][4][5] and partly borrowed from Middle French inexplicable, recorded from 1486, which the OED gives as the immediate source.^[6][7][5][8] The Latin adjective is formed from in- (“not”) and explicābilis (“that can be explained”),^[6][3][7] from explicō (“to unfold, explain”), from ex- (“out”) and plicō (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to plait”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That cannot be explained: in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon of about 1425, where judges leave a question "as a dowte inexplicable".^[2] Etymonline also dates the word to the early 15th century.^[3] The OED's first record is Caxton's Eneydos (1490), where it is used as an adverb.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Like the Latin word, the English adjective at first also had the literal sense "that cannot be unfolded or disentangled; very intricate", recorded from 1555 to 1656,^[6][7][5] and the sense "that cannot be expressed in words", from about 1500 to 1691.^[6][2][5] The modern sense, "that cannot be explained or accounted for", is first found in Bishop Gardiner in 1546 and outlived the others.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "incapable of being explained; not to be made intelligible".^[9] As a noun it meant something that cannot be explained from 1745,^[6][3] and the plural inexplicables was a humorous euphemism for trousers, like inexpressibles.^[6][3]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – that cannot be explained.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[3]
• 1490 – used as an adverb, inexplicably.^[6]
• c. 1500 – that cannot be expressed in words (until 1691).^[2][6]
• 1546 – that cannot be explained or accounted for.^[6]
• 1555 – that cannot be unfolded or disentangled (until 1656).^[6]
• 1745 – noun, something that cannot be explained.^[6][3]
• 1829 – inexplicables, trousers.^[3] The OED's first record is Dickens's Sketches by Boz (1836).^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Impossible to explain or account for; mysterious: For some inexplicable reason the lights kept flickering.^[10][7][6]
2. (obsolete, 1555–1656) That cannot be unravelled; inextricable or very intricate.^[7][6][5]
3. (obsolete, 1502–1691) That cannot be expressed in words; inexpressible.^[6][5][2]

Noun

1. Something that cannot be explained.^[6][5]
2. inexplicables (colloquial) trousers, as a euphemism.^[6][3]

Word family

• inexplicability
• inexplicably
• inexplicableness

Related words

• explicable
• explicate
• inexpressible
• ply
• complicate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins