English
impenetrable
Impenetrable comes from Middle English inpenetrabel.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inpenetrabel
- Englishearliest quotation 1837impenetrable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inpenetrabel
- Englishearliest quotation 1837impenetrable
Earliest quotation: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.: “I should lose the reputation that I am gradually…”
Equivalent to im- + penetrable
Latin penetrō ‘to enter, penetrate’
Medieval Latin penetrābilis
Old French penetrable
Middle English penetrable
English penetrable
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pen-
through Latin penetrō ‘to enter, penetrate’
Today it means
adj Not penetrable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English inpenetrabel / impenetrable