interminable

Forms

interminable (plural interminables)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin interminābilis (“endless”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin adjective is formed from in- (“not”) and terminābilis (“that can be limited”), from terminō (“to bound, limit”), itself from terminus (“boundary”).^[4][3] In French it can be analysed as the prefix ⟨in-⟩ + terminer + the suffix ⟨-able⟩.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Oresme wrote of controversies interminables “endless disputes” in the late 14th century; the next record is a manuscript dated 1457.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant what has no end or limit, literally, as in religious writing on an endless life or an endless hell.^[2][4] By exaggeration it came to mean whatever seems never to end, in space (a plain, a procession) or in time (a speech, a wait), the usual sense today.^[2][8][4] Rabelais already used it of a woman's endless talk in the 16th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1361 – Oresme uses interminables of disputes.^[3][4][2]
• 1457 – A dated manuscript has the word.^[2]
• 16th century – Rabelais speaks of an interminable parlement of a wife.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That has no end or limit, that cannot be finished.^[2][4]
2. Seeming never to end, very long in space or time, endless: une file interminable, une réunion interminable.^[8][2][1]

Related words

• terminer
• terme
• Latin terminus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 757b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert