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inenarrable

adjective /ɪnɪˈnæɹəb(ə)l/

  1. That cannot be told; indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable.

    literary

    For where almyghty god is reſydent all thynges be good, whoſe goodnes is inenarrable and euerlaſtynge.

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from French inénarrable, from Latin inēnārrābilis (“indescribable”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + ēnārrābilis (“describable, explainable”). Ēnārrābilis is derived from ēnārrāre + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon); ēnārrāre is the present active infinitive of ēnārrō (“to explain in detail, expound”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out; thoroughly’)) + narrō (“to say; to relate, tell; to describe; to recount, report”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”)). The English word is analysable as in- + enarrable. Compare ignorant and -able for the components.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry inenarrable (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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