unmeasurableadj.adv.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈmɛʒ(ə)rəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈmɛʒ(ə)rəbəl/, /ˌənˈmɛʒərbəl/ A. adj.† 1. † 2. Beyond the reach of knowledge or understanding; incomprehensible. Obsolete.
a. Of a desire, appetite, etc.: that cannot be moderated or restrained; uncontrollable; immoderate, unrestrained, indulged in to excess. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > inordinate or excessive desire > [adjective]
lustfulc893
yevereOE
covetousa1300
unmeasurablea1398
lustsomea1400
over-lustya1500
coveting1526
kitish1566
inexpleble1569
salt1598
over-desirous1647
voraginousa1652
sitient1656
voragious1665
gluttonous1671
ingorgeous1679
voracious1746
edacious1819
snack1883
desperatea1958
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or too great in amount or degree > excessive in degree
unmeasurablea1398
dismeasurec1400
dismeasurable1477
dismeasured1483
over1494
endlya1513
intolerable1544
wide1574
overloading1576
unconscionable1576
meanless1587
powerable1588
hyperbolical1589
extravagant1598
grievous1632
flagrant1634
exorbitant1648
overbearinga1708
unbalanced1712
well-favoured1746
steep1856
thick1884
ripe1918
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. xlv. 394 Bolismus is inmoderat and vnmesurable, as it were an houndis appetite.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §818 Glotonye is vnmesurable Appetit to ete or to drynke.
c1440 (?c1350) in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 25 (MED) The fyfte dedly syn es couetyse, and þat es ane vn-mesurabill luffe to hafe erthely gudes.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 194 Hit is dedly syn whan that concupiscens Is so vnmessurable that [etc.].
1566 J. Fowler tr. P. Frarinus Oration against Vnlawfull Insurrections Protestantes sig. Dvii Such an vnmeasurable desyre and outragiouse couetousnes,..that they..lefte not as much as a naile or peece of yron behinde them.
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. ii. 206 Although hee had defiled an innumerable number of matrons & freewomen; yet was he neuer able to satisfie the appetite of his filthy vnmeasurable lust.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII (1649) 192* His Cardinall, whose unmeasurable Ambition and Covetousnesse was such that [etc.].
1763 J. Barrow New & Impartial Hist. Eng. IV. vii. 58 His unmeasurable thirst for popularity..prompted him to disregard that outward respect, which ought to guard majesty from insult.
1826 tr. J.-C.-L. S. de Sismondi Hist. Crusades against Albigenses iii. 102 The activity of Simon de Montfort always seconded his unmeasurable ambition.
b. Of an action, practice, obligation, etc.: resulting from or characterized by a lack of moderation or restraint; excessive, inordinate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or too great in amount or degree
overmeteeOE
unmeeteOE
unimeteOE
unmethelyOE
over-mickleOE
hoflesc1175
overmucha1300
unskilwisea1340
unskilfulc1370
luxuriousc1374
overseemingc1384
superfluec1384
unreasonablea1387
outrageousc1390
over-greatc1390
overlargec1390
overgrowna1398
unmeasurablea1398
unmoderatea1398
unordinatea1398
immoderate1398
rankc1400
overabundantc1410
excessivea1420
superabundant?a1425
unmeasureda1425
superfluousc1475
nimious?c1500
surfeitc1500
overliberala1535
torc1540
exceeding1548
distemperate1557
over-ranka1568
overswelling1582
accessive1583
overaboundinga1600
overteeming1603
excessful1633
overproportionated1647
superproportioned1652
over-proportioned1662
overproportionate1672
unduea1684
unequal1704
unmerciful1707
hypermetric1854
hypertrophied1879
over the top1980
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxxix. 247 Vnmesurable passinge and rennynge out of blood..comeþ of openynge of veynes þat springiþ out of þe lyuour.
c1450 (?c1425) St. Mary of Oignies i. vi, in Anglia (1885) 8 139 Vnmesurabil laghter or vnsem and vnmanerly berynge of body.
1461–2 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1461 §42. m. 20 The inordynat and unmesurable enditementz and presentementz..of felonye.
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. iv. 201 So euill an example of vnmeasurable sotting in bed.
1592 T. Tymme Plaine Discouerie Ten Eng. Lepers H 2 Through unmeasurable abstinence, the moysture of the bodie is dried up.
1674 W. Temple Let. to Ld. Treasurer in Wks. (1720) II. 311 The unmeasurable Burden of their Taxes.
1709 J. Swift Project Advancem. Relig. 5 The Lustre of that most Noble Family..which the unmeasurable Profusion of Ancestors..had too much eclypsed.
1720 J. Johnson Coll. Eccl. Laws Church of Eng. I. sig. N5 They dare set his Justice to sale every Day by an unmeasurable Flattery, and the excessive Blandishment of luxurious Conversation.
c. Of a person, the mind, etc.: acting without moderation or restraint; intemperate; unreasonable. In later use chiefly modifying an agent noun: that performs the specified action immoderately or unreasonably. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > lack of moderation or restraint > [adjective] > specifically of persons
unsufferablea1387
unmeasurablec1405
immoderatec1450
inordinatec1450
dissolutec1475
excessive1586
extravagant1600
painful1749
unforbearing1820
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §813 As muche as som folk been vnmesurable. men oughten eschue fool largesse that men clepen wast.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Prov. xv. 4 The tunge which is vnmesurable, schal defoule the spirit.
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iii. ix. f. lvv These haue ben..so vnmesurable in their expensys.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xxvii. f. 37v Their myndes were greatly immoderate and vnmeasurable in their desyre to ouercome thestates.
1597 N. Breton Auspicante Jehoua f. 8v So great and vnmeasurable a sinner.
1629 J. Maxwell tr. Herodian Hist. 155 An vnmeasurable Louer of Money.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 35 He..shall find it [sc. sin]..an Unmeasurable Exactor.
ΚΠ
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. B.15.17) (1975) B. xv. l. 71 Ye moeuen materes vnmesurable [a1425 Newnh. inmesurable, c1450 Rawl. vnmesurables] to tellen of þe Trinite.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 15000 (MED) Þou wott I [sc. Job] wroght neuer swylke wrang..why I suld byd þis bale; þis is vnmesurabyll.
3. Incapable of being measured; immeasurable.
a. Of a quality, feeling, action, etc.: too intense or extreme to be measured; infinite, unlimited.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge > therefore not able to be measured or estimated
unachteleda1325
inestimablec1374
unmeasureda1398
untolda1400
measurelessc1400
unmeasurablec1400
immeasurable1440
immensurable1535
unestimable1542
modeless1583
immeasured1590
unvalued1590
countless1593
unrecomptless1593
inestimate1614
starlike1616
unmeted1635
inestimal1678
invaluablea1694
immensurate1720
incalculablea1797
uncountable1858
c1400 Prickynge of Love (Harl.) (1983) 33 (MED) We shul be glad ouer þis for þe vn-mesurabel pite of oure lord ihesu crist.
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 256 The vnmesurable hete of the sonne.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xx. 329 He..yaf hym soche a stroke with the brasen betell so vn-mesurable.
a1500 in Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. (1905) 27 130 (MED) By that vnmesurabulle peyne that thou were tormentyd whanne thei smote the croune of thornes..haue mercy on vs.
1542 T. Becon Newes out of Heauen sig. H.iijv Your ioy can not be expressed, your gladnes is vnmeasurable.
1671 Sanderson's XXI Serm. 242 We..shall have an unmeasurable [1653 immeasurable] reward..for the good we have done.
1709 I. Watts Hymns (ed. 2) i. 107 The heighth, and breadth, and length, Of thine unmeasurable Grace.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 239 This..parade of sanctity gave him..unmeasurable credit.
1834 United Service Jrnl. i. 19 To the British government..belonged the power of employing or nullifying such instruments of unmeasurable destruction.
1860 W. Allen Bk. Christian Sonnets 69 He has fixed upon his soul the unmeasurable guilt of several tens of thousands of murders.
1904 M. J. F. McCarthy Gallowglass xviii. 237 That land which..God in His..boundless, infinite, unmeasurable mercy has marked out as the abode of His sole vicar on earth.
1995 K. Ishiguro Unconsoled ii. 18 The important thing is that you are here. And for that alone, Mr Ryder, our gratitude to you is unmeasurable.
b. Too great in size or extent to be measured; incalculable; immense, vast.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge
unmeeteOE
unmeetlyOE
hugea1275
hideousc1330
infinitec1385
unmeasureda1398
unmeasurablec1405
hugyc1420
immeasurable1440
ingentc1450
unmeetlyc1450
giant1480
immense1490
monstrous?a1513
unmeasurely1513
hugeousa1529
unportable1537
enormous1544
enormc1560
giantly1561
immensible1579
rouncival1582
dismeasured1584
vast1585
immeasured1590
gargantuan1596
omnipotent1596
colossian1601
immane1601
prodigious1601
Polyphemian1602
Titanian1603
titanical1603
gigantical1604
immensive1604
gigantine1605
colossic1607
gigantean1611
Gogmagotical1612
gigantal?1614
Babylonian1617
leviathan1625
titanic1628
elephantine1631
gigantive1638
colossean1644
decumanal1652
immensurate1654
gigant1658
decuman1659
colossal1664
abnormous1710
Brobdingnagian1728
Brobdingnag1731
Pantagruelian1737
heroic1785
Patagonian1786
seven-league1787
Titan1793
gigantic1797
seven-leagued1799
mammoth1801
dimensionless1813
tremendous1813
gigantesque1821
monster1837
titanesque1838
monstre1840
giantlike1847
leviathanic1848
pythonic1851
Babylonic1853
supercolossal1871
giantesque1909
behemothian1910
supergiant1919
ginormous1942
big-ass1945
Ozymandian1961
fuck-off1962
mega1968
humongous1970
monstro1970
big-assed1972
big-arsed1996
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 836 O. Golias, vnmesurable of lengthe.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 83 O weight unmeasurable, o see intransnatable, where I finde no þing of myself but all nouȝt!
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. vi. 71 Cerberus,..Vnmesurable in his cave quhar he lay.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. iii. 33 The walles..are made of grauen stone..of length and bignesse vnmeasurable.
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God iii. xxxi. 152 A most huge & vnmesurable cloud.
1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. 243 Truth and Falshood..are removed from each other by an unmeasurable distance.
1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will iv. viii. 240 Limited and unmeasureable Periods of Time.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. 398 The tower..was of an unmeasurable height.
a1812 W. Moodie Serm. (1813) v. 96 All vast and unmeasurable objects are fitted to impress the soul with awe.
1889 Pittsburgh Med. Rev. 3 311/1 Medicine is yet an unmeasurable distance from this goal.
1922 S. N. Patten Mud Hollow xvii. 177 A haunting dread of consequence stood before; behind yawned a gulf of unmeasurable depth.
1996 S. Sassen Losing Control? iii. 66 A vast, unmeasurable multiplicity of realities that unfolds on many different terrains.
c. Of God: infinite, limitless, boundless. Cf. infinite adj. 1a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [adjective] > unbounded or unmeasurable
unmeasuredc1475
unmeasurable1533
unboundless1624
unboundeda1711
1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. f.5 Howe is he present vnto hys faythfull, but because he is vnmeasurable & verye God?
1603 R. Broughton 1st Pt. Resol. of Relig. i. ii. 5 Euery thing in God that is but one most simple and vndeuided essence, is also God infinite and vnmeasurable.
a1752 R. Erskine Serm. (1796) VII. cxxii. 379 The Spirit of God that is unmeasurable.
1872 E. Harwood tr. K. C. W. F. Bähr Bks. Kings i. 107/1 The heaven of heavens cannot contain the Unmeasurable and Infinite One.
2008 J. Franklin Believe that you Can xii. 212 God's call will supersede everything else in your life. He is unmeasurable and so is everything He does.
4. Not admitting of measurement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > [adjective] > measurable > not
unmensurable1513
unmeasurable1582
immeasurable1667
immensurable1715
indimensible1844
1582 Of Foure Elements in S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xi. f. 165v/2 It [sc. fire] is vnmeasurable and inuisible.
1652 Zeal Examined Add. §9. 40 Which rendered the true Church unmeasureable by any outward Formes.
1714 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements (rev. ed.) Pref. p. ii Both measurable and unmeasurable Magnitudes.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind vi. 254 These philosophers hold space to be..incapable of increase or diminution, yet not unmeasurable: for every the least part of space bears a finite ratio to the whole.
1839 A. Norton Disc. Latest Form Infidelity 9 Far more impalpable than this hyaline fluid, is some heavy air, and far more subtile still is light, and again, at an unmeasurable interval, the vital force.
1878 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 75 411 A large proportion of vegetable snow-derived organic matter in our potable waters is of consideration mainly as a measurer of the otherwise unmeasurable malaria which it contains.
1921 F. H. Knight Risk, Uncertainty & Profit i. 20 A measurable uncertainty, or ‘risk’ proper, as we shall use the term, is so far different from an unmeasurable one that it is not in effect an uncertainty at all.
1992 J. M. Kelly Short Hist. Western Legal Theory viii. 341 Some morally censurable behaviour (like ingratitude or perfidy) is too vague and unmeasurable to be the subject of legal regulation.
= unmeasurably adv. Obsolete.Quot. c1443 may instead show unmeasurably adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > lack of moderation or restraint > [adverb]
unordinatelyc1384
untemperately1398
unmeasurablyc1400
unmannerly?a1425
unmeasurablec1443
inordinatelyc1450
riotously?c1450
immoderately1482
surfeitlyc1503
unsoberlyc1540
dissolutely1561
intemperantly1561
unbridledly1561
hard1569
intemperately1576
ahoit1598
high1602
extravagantly1660
overboard1931
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > immeasurably or inestimably
unimetelya1240
unmeasurablyc1390
unmeasurablec1443
inestimablec1460
inestimablya1530
uncountably1599
invaluably1601
unmeasuredly1602
immeasurably1631
incommensurably1652
incalculably1806
measurelessly1839
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 59 (MED) Euery duraunce which is wiþoute bigynnyng and withoute eendyng..is infinitely greet and vnmesurabile greet in his kynde.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 343 When he saw any yong monk lagh vnmesurable.
1565 A. Golding tr. Caesar Martiall Exploytes in Gallia iv. f. 84v The kind of meat, and daily exercise, and lyberty of lyfe,..doeth bothe nouryshe theyr strength, and maketh theym men of vnmeasurable big bodies.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 722 So that great heede is to be taken, that none grow to be vnmeasurable great.
1640 Womens Sharpe Revenge 164 A well-seasoned Drunkard, is an unmeasurable merry companion.
C. n.
An unmeasurable thing. Usually in plural. rare before 20th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun] > ability to be measured > not > an immensurable thing
unmeasurable1652
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila v. lxxxvi. 78 Can Measures such Unmeasurables hold? Can Time Infinitie unfold?
1789 G. Campbell in tr. Four Gospels I. Diss. vi. ii. 214 Among such immense distances as the height of heaven..; to introduce as one of the unmeasurables, a sepulchre whose depth could scarcely exceed ten or twelve cubits,..would have been absurd.
1931 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 18 106 The author deals almost solely with unmeasurables and imponderables—motives, personality, character.
1977 I. C. R. Byatt in M. Posner Public Expenditure ii. 33 The net cost will not always be paid to cover the general welfare effects of job creation in a particular area, but for other unmeasurables like additional national prestige.
2007 D. P. Thurs Sci. Talk iii. 107 Unmeasurables, such as the ether or absolute time, had no place in science.
Derivatives
unˈmeasurableness n.
ΚΠ
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 49 (MED) He muste..bere it ful presently and ofte in remembraunce what is boren in and meened by vnmesurabilnes or infinitnes.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xxxix. 3) To give himself the brydle to anye unmeasurablenesse of greefe.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xxi. i. 776 The unmeasurablenesse of the manifest..qualities whereof they [sc. poisons] consist.
1724 R. Welton Substance Christian Faith 185 His judgments are as the great deep for their obscurity and unmeasurableness.
1857 J. Orr Theism xi. 348 The telescope has amplified to unmeasurableness the heaven of space.
1921 Archit. Nov. 345/1 This incommensurableness or unmeasurableness of line is characteristic of the dynamic type of symmetry.
2003 C. Pollitt Essent. Public Manager i. 22 Greater vagueness, intangibility or unmeasurableness of goals.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.n.a1398