Irrespective

How to spell irrespective

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce irrespective

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does irrespective mean?

1. adjectiveNot taking something into account; regardless of, when followed by 'of'.

Irrespective in a sentence

• The policy applies to every employee irrespective of seniority.

• The prize is open to all entrants irrespective of age or background.

Where does irrespective come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the negative prefix ir-, a form of in- meaning 'not', joined to 'respective', which traces back to the Latin verb respicere, literally 'to look back at' or 'to regard', formed from re- 'back' and specere 'to look'. By the time 'respective' settled into English in the 1500s it carried the sense of 'relating to' or 'with regard to', so adding the negating prefix produced 'irrespective', meaning 'not regarding' or 'without taking into account'. The doubled r is the spelling trap and it comes from assimilation: the Latin prefix in- shifts to ir- before a root beginning with r, so that the two r sounds run together. The same specere root for 'looking' survives in everyday relatives such as 'inspect', 'spectator' and 'respect' itself. The word is almost always followed by 'of', as in 'irrespective of cost', which is a useful memory anchor for how it is used.

How the word is built

• ir- (not, a form of in-)
• respect (from Latin respicere: to look back at, regard)
• -ive (adjective suffix)