ineffable. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

ineffable

SYLLABICATION:	in·ef·fa·ble
PRONUNCIATION:	n-f-bl
ADJECTIVE:	1. Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or unutterable. See synonyms at unspeakable. 2. Not to be uttered; taboo: the ineffable name of God.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ineffbilis : in-, not; see in–¹ + effbilis, utterable (from effr, to utter ( ex-, ex- + fr, to speak; see bh-² in Appendix I).
OTHER FORMS:	in·effa·bili·ty, in·effa·ble·ness —NOUN in·effa·bly —ADVERB


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.