insoluble English · revision 830
11 Oct 2026, 00:13 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary, Hoad, MED, Word Origins)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ɪnˈsɒljʊbəl/ ''(UK)''; /ɪnˈsɑljəbəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|insolible]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la|īnsolūbilis|t=that cannot be loosened]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) partly through [[fro|insoluble]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[af|la|in-|solūbilis|t1=not|t2=that can be loosened]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from ''solvere'' “to loosen, dissolve” (see [[soluble]]).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ That cannot be dissolved, undone or loosened; indissoluble (1382);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) also, of a problem, that cannot be solved (1387–93).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The physical sense “indestructible, indissoluble” is now archaic.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The meaning “incapable of being solved or explained” was in use from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) and the chemical sense, “incapable of being dissolved in a liquid”, dates from 1713.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) The OED also records the word of a debt that cannot be paid off (1850).^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1382 – that cannot be loosened or undone.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1387 – noun, an insoluble problem.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1393 – of a problem, that cannot be solved.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1713 – that cannot be dissolved in a liquid.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1850 – of a debt, unpayable.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # That cannot be [[dissolve|alt=dissolved]], especially in water, or that dissolves only with difficulty.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Difficult or impossible to solve or explain.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(archaic)'' [[indissoluble|alt=Indissoluble]].^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ===Noun===
+ # Something, such as a substance or a problem, that is insoluble.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[insolubility]]
+ * [[insolubly]]
+ * [[insolubleness]]
+ * [[insolubilize]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[soluble]]
+ * [[solve]]
+ * [[dissolve]]
+ * [[solution]]
+ * [[insolvable]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}