Nov. 25th, 2018

[identity profile] sallymn.livejournal.com

ineluctable [in-i-luhk-tuh-buh l]
adjective:
1. unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable

Examples:

Truth is not that which is demonstrable but that which is ineluctable. (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman's Odyssey)

But they could not feel the ineluctable coring out of self that howled inside Diane (Jacquelyn Mitchard, A Theory of Relativity)

Teaching here isn't so bad. Once you accept as one of the ineluctable laws of nature that kids will continue to say "Silas Mariner" and "Ancient Marner" and "between you and I" and "mischievious" and that the administration will continue to use phrases like "egregious conduct" and "ethnic background" you can go on from there. (Bel Kaufman)

Origin:

Early 17th century: from Latin ineluctabilis, from in- ‘not’ + eluctari ‘struggle out’. (Oxford Dictionary)

Like drama, wrestling was popular in ancient Greece and Rome. 'Wrestler,' in Latin, is 'luctator,' and 'to wrestle' is 'luctari.' 'Luctari' also has extended senses - 'to struggle,' 'to strive,' or 'to contend.' 'Eluctari' joined 'e-' ('ex-') with 'luctari,' forming a verb meaning 'to struggle clear of.' 'Ineluctabilis' brought in the negative prefix in- to form an adjective describing something that cannot be escaped or avoided. English speakers borrowed the word as 'ineluctable' around 1623. (Mirriam-Webster)


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