Incomprehensible

How to spell incomprehensible

16 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce incomprehensible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does incomprehensible mean?

1. adjectiveImpossible to understand or make sense of.

Incomprehensible in a sentence

• The new tax form was so badly worded that it was almost incomprehensible.

• His handwriting becomes incomprehensible when he is in a hurry.

Where does incomprehensible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb comprehendere, meaning 'to seize, grasp, or take hold of completely', formed from com- 'together' and prehendere 'to seize'. From the literal idea of grabbing something physically, Latin extended the verb to the mental act of grasping an idea, which is the sense English still carries in 'comprehend'. The negative form comprehensibilis with the prefix in- 'not' produced incomprehensibilis, meaning 'unable to be grasped'. English took the word in during the fifteenth century, largely through learned Latin and French religious and philosophical writing where it described things, especially the divine, that the human mind cannot fully take in. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the silent 'h' after the 'pre', and the 'ible' ending rather than 'able', both of which loyally preserve the Latin shape.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• com- (together)
• prehend (to grasp/seize)
• -ible (able to be)