inexpressible (adj.)
1620s, from in- (1) "not" + expressible (see express (v.)). Inexpressibles "trousers" is from 1790. Related: Inexpressibly.
I have retain'd the word BREECHES, as they are known by no other name amongst country folk.--The change from vulgarity to refinement, in cities and towns, has introduced other appellations; there they are generally called SMALL CLOTHES, but some ladies of high rank and extreme delicacy call them INEXPRESSIBLES. [footnote in "Poems Miscellaneous and Humorous," by Edward Nairne, Canterbury, 1791]
Inexpressibles is the earliest recorded and thus seems to have begotten the trend: Unmentionables (1806); indispensibles (1820); ineffables (1823); unutterables (1826); innominables (1827); and inexplicables (1829) followed.
Entries linking to inexpressible
In Old French and Middle English often en-, but most of these forms have not survived in Modern English, and the few that do (enemy, for instance) no longer are felt as negative. The rule of thumb in English has been to use in- with obviously Latin elements, un- with native or nativized ones.
late 14c., "represent in visual arts; put into words," from Old French espresser, expresser "press, squeeze out; speak one's mind" (Modern French exprimer), Medieval Latin expressare, frequentative of Latin exprimere "represent, describe, portray, imitate, translate," literally "to press out" (source also of Italian espresso); the sense evolution here perhaps is via an intermediary sense such as "clay, etc., that under pressure takes the form of an image," from ex "out" (see ex-) + pressare "to press, push," from Latin premere "to press, hold fast, cover, crowd, compress" (from PIE root *per- (4) "to strike"). Related: Expressed; expresses; expressing; expressible.
updated on September 25, 2018
Dictionary entries near inexpressible
inexperienced
inexpert
inexpiable
inexplicable
inexplicit
inexpressible
inexpugnable
inexpungible
inextinguishable
inextirpable
inextricable
