| 释义 |
insolvable, a.|ɪnˈsɒlvəb(ə)l|
[in-3. Cf. F. insolvable (1431 in Godef. Compl.; in Cotgr.).]
Incapable of being solved.
†1. That cannot be loosed, unbound, or untied; = insoluble a. 1. Obs.
1652Kirkman Clerio & Lozia 95 Their souls and hearts were knit in an insolvable knot. c1690in Somers Tracts I. 442 They would scarce apprehend that it could be a more strong or insolvable Bond. 1725Pope Odyss. viii. 480 To guard with bands Insolvable these gifts, thy care demands.
2. That cannot be solved or explained; = insoluble 2.
1693R. W. Compl. Library II. 362 The Doctrine..is perplext with an infinite number of Monstrous and insolvable Difficulties. 1741Watts Improv. Mind i. i. §3 Geometry, wherein there appear some insolvable difficulties. 1884Chr. Commw. 28 Feb. 465/2 Answers are vainly sought to insolvable problems.
3. Incapable of being dissolved; = insoluble 3.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 25 Being itself insolvable in any known menstruum.
4. Of a bank note or bill: That cannot be cashed.
1846Hawthorne Mosses ii. viii. Earth's Holocaust 140 A bundle of counterfeit or insolvable bank-notes.
†5. Of a debt: That cannot be paid. Obs. rare—0.
1755Johnson, Insolvable,..that cannot be paid.
†6. Unable to pay one's debts; = insolvent 1.
1648tr. Senault's Paraphr. Job 202 Taking pawnes of those who were insolvable. 1730–6Bailey (folio), Insolvable, not able to pay.
Hence insolvaˈbility, incapability of being solved or explained. inˈsolvableness, ‘uncapableness of being loosed or resolved’ (Bailey vol. II, 1727). inˈsolvably adv., insolubly.
1795G. Wakefield Reply to 2nd Pt. Age Reason 42 Something..so insolvably problematical. a1834Coleridge Lit. Rem. (1839) IV. 271 As soon as its insolvibility..is proved and accounted for. 1890Smithsonian Rep. 100 A demonstration of the insolvability of this historic problem. |