imperceptible

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French imperceptible, from Medieval Latin imperceptibilis, equivalent to im- +‎ perceptible.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

imperceptible (comparative more imperceptible, superlative most imperceptible)

1. not perceptible, not detectable, too small in magnitude to be observed

   Synonyms: imperceivable, undistinguishable, unperceivable

   Antonyms: detectable, perceptible

   We all missed the imperceptible shake of his head as he tried to warn us without being seen.

   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 142:

     A narrow, almost imperceptible path led them through the thickest of the wood. Two or three times they had to creep under boughs which, but for the ease with which they gave way, would seem never to have admitted a passage before.

   • 1961 July, J. Geoffrey Todd, “Impressions of railroading in the United States: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 425:

     To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still.

   • 1986, Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 75:

     Very small benefits may be imperceptible. And it is plausible to claim that an 'imperceptible benefit' is not a benefit.

2. beyond the purview of man; too great and all-encompassing to be perceived.

   Synonym: cosmic

   Antonym: perceptible

Derived terms

• imperceptibility
• imperceptibleness
• imperceptibly

 

Translations

not perceptible

• Belarusian: непрыкме́тны (njeprykmjétny)
• Bulgarian: неусетен (bg) (neuseten)
• Catalan: imperceptible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 不可察覺嘅／不可察觉嘅 (bat¹ ho² caat³ gok³ ge³)

• Dutch: onwaarneembaar (nl), onzichtbaar (nl), onmerkbaar (nl)
• Finnish: vaikea aistia, huomaamaton (fi)
• French: imperceptible (fr), inapercevable (fr)
• German: unmerklich (de)
• Greek: ανεπαίσθητος (el) (anepaísthitos)
• Manx: neuvaghtal
• Ottoman Turkish: بللیسز (bellisiz)
• Polish: niewyczuwalny
• Portuguese: impercetível (Portugal), imperceptível (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: неощути́мый (ru) (neoščutímyj), незаме́тный (ru) (nezamétnyj)
• Spanish: imperceptible (es)
• Ukrainian: непримі́тний (neprymítnyj)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin imperceptibilis, By surface analysis, im- +‎ perceptible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [im.pər.səpˈtib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [im.peɾ.sepˈti.ble]

Adjective

imperceptible m or f (masculine and feminine plural imperceptibles)

1. imperceptible

   Antonym: perceptible

Derived terms

• imperceptiblement

Further reading

• “imperceptible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “imperceptible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “imperceptible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “imperceptible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From the Medieval Latin imperceptibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pɛʁ.sɛp.tibl/

Adjective

imperceptible (plural imperceptibles)

1. imperceptible

   Synonym: insensible

Derived terms

• imperceptiblement

Further reading

• “imperceptible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin imperceptibilis. By surface analysis, im- +‎ perceptible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /impeɾθebˈtible/ [ĩm.peɾ.θeβ̞ˈt̪i.β̞le]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /impeɾsebˈtible/ [ĩm.peɾ.seβ̞ˈt̪i.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: im‧per‧cep‧ti‧ble

Adjective

imperceptible m or f (masculine and feminine plural imperceptibles)

1. imperceptible

Derived terms

• imperceptiblemente

 

Further reading

• “imperceptible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10