inintelligible

Forms

inintelligible (plural inintelligibles)^[1]

Etymology

The TLFi, the Grand Robert and the DHLF take it as formed from French in- + intelligible.^[2][3][4][1] Bloch and Wartburg list it among the derivatives of the base adjective in one place but call it borrowed from Late Latin inintelligibilis in another, the origin Littré also gives; the GLLF allows both.^[5][6][7] The base (13th century) is from Latin intellegibilis, from intellegō (“to understand”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found on 27 May 1640, in a letter from Chapelain to Balzac, of something that cannot be understood because it is incoherent or too abstract.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

First said of things (1640), it was soon applied to people: Pascal, in the Pensées, calls our being inintelligible à nous-mêmes “unintelligible to ourselves”.^[2] The DHLF dates its use of people to 1757–1762, and the GLLF has Voltaire in 1756 for someone who expresses his thought badly and Rousseau in 1762.^[4][7] From 1732 (Crébillon fils) it is used of words that cannot be made out.^[2] Its derivatives are inintelligiblement, found once before 1622 in François de Sales and taken up again in 1829, and inintelligibilité (before 1714, Fénelon).^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1640 – Chapelain uses it in a letter to Balzac.^[2]
• 1657–1662 – Pascal applies it to human nature.^[2]
• 1694 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for the word as a Late Latin borrowing.^[5]
• 1732 – Crébillon fils uses it of words that cannot be heard clearly.^[2]
• 1762 – Rousseau uses it of a person.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That cannot be understood; whose meaning cannot be grasped, obscure: une démonstration inintelligible.^[8][2][9]
2. Of speech or writing: that cannot be made out or deciphered: une écriture inintelligible.^[8][2]
3. Of a person: whose words, behaviour or character are hard to understand.^[2][6]

Word family

• inintelligiblement
• inintelligibilité

Related words

• intelligible
• Late Latin inintelligibilis

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)