incommensurable

adjective

in·com·men·su·ra·ble ˌin-kə-ˈmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-bəl How to pronounce incommensurable (audio)

-ˈmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə-

: not commensurable

broadly : lacking a basis of comparison in respect to a quality normally subject to comparison

incommensurability

ˌin-kə-ˌmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce incommensurable (audio)

-ˌmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə-

noun

incommensurable noun

incommensurably

ˌin-kə-ˈmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-blē How to pronounce incommensurable (audio)

-ˈmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə-

adverb

Did you know?

Commensurable means "having a common measure" or "corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree." Its antonym incommensurable generally refers to things that are unlike and incompatible, sharing no common ground ("incommensurable theories"), or to things that are very disproportionate, often to the point of defying comparison ("incommensurable crimes"). Both words entered English in the 1500s and were originally used (as they still can be) for numbers that have or don't have a common divisor. They came to English by way of Middle French and Late Latin, ultimately deriving from the Latin noun mensura, meaning "measure." Mensura is also an ancestor of commensurate (meaning "coextensive" or "proportionate") and incommensurate ("disproportionate" or "insufficient"), which overlap in meaning with commensurable and incommensurable but are not exact synonyms.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The distance implies an incommensurable gap in experience that the camera, and even personal acquaintance, can’t overcome.

Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2022 The progression suggests that one way fiction might approach the depiction of capitalist totality and its impossible forms is by presenting it, however futilely, through incommensurable shards.

Jane Hu, The Atlantic, 26 May 2022 This meant that the sacred and the profane lived cheek by jowl—intimately connected and yet incommensurable with each other.

Peter Brown, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 This was inimical to long-term functional currency status just as over-abundant incommensurable dialects and over-frequent meaning-changes would be inimical to a functional lingua franca.

Robert Hockett, Forbes, 28 June 2021 Children are both sources of incommensurable joy and inefficient engines of need; careers, particularly athletic careers, can also be capricious and make uncompromising demands.

Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2020

单词	incommensurable
释义	incommensurable adjective in·com·men·su·ra·ble ˌin-kə-ˈmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-bəl -ˈmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə- : not commensurable broadly : lacking a basis of comparison in respect to a quality normally subject to comparison incommensurability ˌin-kə-ˌmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-ˈbi-lə-tē -ˌmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə- noun incommensurable noun incommensurably ˌin-kə-ˈmen(t)-s(ə-)rə-blē -ˈmen(t)-sh(ə-)rə- adverb Did you know? Commensurable means "having a common measure" or "corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree." Its antonym incommensurable generally refers to things that are unlike and incompatible, sharing no common ground ("incommensurable theories"), or to things that are very disproportionate, often to the point of defying comparison ("incommensurable crimes"). Both words entered English in the 1500s and were originally used (as they still can be) for numbers that have or don't have a common divisor. They came to English by way of Middle French and Late Latin, ultimately deriving from the Latin noun mensura, meaning "measure." Mensura is also an ancestor of commensurate (meaning "coextensive" or "proportionate") and incommensurate ("disproportionate" or "insufficient"), which overlap in meaning with commensurable and incommensurable but are not exact synonyms. Example Sentences Recent Examples on the Web The distance implies an incommensurable gap in experience that the camera, and even personal acquaintance, can’t overcome. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2022 The progression suggests that one way fiction might approach the depiction of capitalist totality and its impossible forms is by presenting it, however futilely, through incommensurable shards. Jane Hu, The Atlantic, 26 May 2022 This meant that the sacred and the profane lived cheek by jowl—intimately connected and yet incommensurable with each other. Peter Brown, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020 This was inimical to long-term functional currency status just as over-abundant incommensurable dialects and over-frequent meaning-changes would be inimical to a functional lingua franca. Robert Hockett, Forbes, 28 June 2021 Children are both sources of incommensurable joy and inefficient engines of need; careers, particularly athletic careers, can also be capricious and make uncompromising demands. Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2020 Word History First Known Use 1570, in the meaning defined above
随便看	unobeyed unobjected unobjectionable unobjective unobligated unobliging unobliterated unobnoxious unobscured unobservable unobservables unobservance unobservant unobserved unobserving unobstinate unobstructed unobtainable unobtrusive unobtrusively unobtrusiveness unobtrusivenesses unobvious unoccupancy unoccupied

incommensurable

adjective

Did you know?

Example Sentences

Word History