inconcevable

Forms

inconcevable (plural inconcevables)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French in- + concevable.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Bloch and Wartburg list it and its base from 1584 among the derivatives of concevoir,^[6] which goes back to Latin concipiō (“to take, seize, conceive”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1584, in Jean de Barraud's French version of Guevara's Epistres dorées, meaning “of which the mind can form no idea”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Descartes used it in 1641 for what the mind cannot fully grasp, and by 1664 Madame de Sévigné used it of what is hard to understand, explain, imagine or believe, the everyday sense.^[2][8] Littré adds that it was said of persons, and by exaggeration of anything surprising or extraordinary of its kind.^[5] As a noun, l'inconcevable is what lies beyond conception.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1584 – Jean de Barraud uses it of what the mind cannot represent.^[2][8]
• 1641 – Descartes uses it of what cannot be fully grasped.^[2][8]
• 1664 – Madame de Sévigné uses it in the everyday sense “hard to believe”.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (philosophy) Of which the mind can form no representation, because it involves a contradiction.^[2][4][9]
2. Hard or impossible to understand, explain, imagine or believe, astonishing: Il est inconcevable qu'elle soit partie sans un mot.^[4][10][9]
3. That cannot be accepted: une désinvolture inconcevable.^[10]

Noun

1. l'inconcevable: that which is beyond conception.^[4][9]

Related words

• concevable
• concevoir
• Latin concipiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1008b
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)