ineffability
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word ineffability. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word ineffability, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say ineffability in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word ineffability you have here. The definition of the word ineffability will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofineffability, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Latin ineffabilitas.
Noun
ineffability (usually uncountable, plural ineffabilities)
- The quality or state of being ineffable.
- Synonyms: ineffableness; indescribability, inexpressibility, unspeakability, unspeakableness
- Antonyms: effability; describability, expressibility, speakability, speakableness
- 1924, Herman Melville, chapter 11, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.:
- To him, the spirit lodged within Billy, and looking out from his welkin eyes as from windows, that ineffability it was which made the dimple in his dyed cheek, suppled his joints, and dancing in his yellow curls made him preeminently the Handsome Sailor.
- 1990, Barbara Myerhoff, “The transformation of consciousness in ritual performances: some thoughts and questions”, in Richard Schechner, Willa Appel, editors, By Means of Performance: Intercultural Studies of Theatre and Ritual, Cambridge University Press, page 245:
- But recently, physiological studies of ritual have suggested that the ineffability of intense emotional, transformative states may be due to the dominance of right brain activity.
Translations
quality or state of being ineffable
|
References
- “ineffability”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.