Irreversible

How to spell irreversible

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce irreversible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does irreversible mean?

1. adjectiveImpossible to change back to a previous state or to undo.

Irreversible in a sentence

• The surgeon warned that the damage to the nerve was irreversible.

• Once you confirm the transfer, the payment becomes irreversible.

Where does irreversible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb vertere, meaning 'to turn', which combined with the prefix re- 'back' to give revertere, literally 'to turn back'. From the past participle reversus English eventually built 'reverse', the act of turning something around or back. Adding the suffix -ible 'able to be' produced 'reversible', meaning capable of being turned back, and the negating prefix in- (which assimilates to ir- before an r) gave the modern 'irreversible', meaning unable to be turned back or undone. The word settled into English in the early modern period, by way of French and Latin scientific and legal writing. The same vertere root quietly powers a whole family of relatives such as 'convert', 'divert', and 'version'. The two big spelling traps live at the ends: the doubled r where ir- meets re-, and the -ible ending rather than -able.

How the word is built

• ir- (not)
• re- (back)
• vers (from Latin vertere, to turn)
• -ible (able to be)