Mid 17th century; earliest use found in Gilbert Watts (d. 1657), Church of England clergyman and translator. From post-classical Latin acatalepsia from Hellenistic Greek ἀκαταληψία impossibility of direct apprehension from ancient Greek ἀκατάληπτος that cannot be reached or touched, in Hellenistic Greek also incomprehensible, not comprehending + -ία; compare -lepsy.