implacable

implacable

See also: implaçable

English

WOTD – 17 April 2019

Etymology

From Middle English implācāble (“immitigable, unappeasable”)[1] from Old French implacable (“harsh, unrelenting; implacable”) (modern French implacable), from Latin implācābilis (“unappeasable, implacable; irreconcilable”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + plācābilis (“placable; appeasing, moderating, pacifying, propitiating; acceptable”) (from plācō (“to assuage, pacify, placate; to appease; to reconcile”) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon)).[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplækəb(ə)l/, /-ˈpleɪ-/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈplækəbəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: im‧pla‧ca‧ble

Adjective

implacable (comparative more implacable, superlative most implacable)

1. Not able to be placated or appeased.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) impacable, irreconcilable, unassuageable, (obsolete) unplacable, unpleasable

   Antonyms: appeasable, assuageable, pacable, pacifiable, placable

   • c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or VVhat You VVill”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv], page 269:

     He is knight dubb'd with vnhatche'd Rapier, and on carpet conſideration, but he is a diuell in priuate brall, soules and bodies hath he diuorc'd three, and his incenſement at this moment is ſo implacable, that ſatisfaction can be none, but by pangs of death and ſepulcher: Hob, nob, is his word: giu't or take't.

   • 1810, J[ohn] Stagg, “Arthur’s Cave. A Legendary Tale.”, in The Minstrel of the North: Or, Cumbrian Legends. […], London: Printed by Hamblin and Seyfang, […], for the author, and sold by J. Blacklock, […], OCLC 7000697, page 105:

     [I]n the reign of Henry the Second, a body happening, by chance, to be dug up near Glastonbury Abbey, without any symptoms of putrefaction or decay, the Welch, the descendants of the Ancient Britons, tenacious of the dignity and reputation of that illustrious hero [King Arthur], vainly supposed it could be no other than the body of their justly-boasted Pen-Dragon; and that he had been immured in that sepulchre by the spells of some powerful and implacable inchanter.

2. Impossible to prevent or stop; inexorable, unrelenting, unstoppable.

   Synonyms: relentless, unremitting, unyielding

   • 2011, James D. Hornfischer, “The Giants Ride”, in Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, 2012, →ISBN, page 345:

     The battleships Washington and South Dakota pushed through the sea with an implacable ease.

3. Adamant; immovable.
   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], OCLC 228725984; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, […], 1928, OCLC 5190338, page 84:

     Indeed Cain hated his Brother, becauſe his own works were evil, and his Brothers righteous; and if thy Wife and Children have been offended with thee for this, they thereby ſhew themſelves to be implacable to good; and thou haſt delivered thy ſoul from their blood.

Derived terms

• implacability
• implacableness
• implacably

Related terms

• placability
• placable
• placableness
• placably
• unplacable

 

Translations

not able to be placated or appeased

Bulgarian: неумолим (bg) (neumolim) Catalan: implacable (ca) Czech: neuklidnitelný, neutišitelný Dutch: onverzoenlijk (nl) English: Middle English: implācāble Finnish: leppymätön (fi) Georgian: შეუბრალებელი (šeubralebeli) German: unversöhnlich (de) Greek: αμείλικτος (el) (ameíliktos), αδυσώπητος (el) (adysópitos) Ancient: ἄσπονδος (áspondos), ἄθελκτος (áthelktos) Hungarian: engesztelhetetlen (hu) Italian: implacabile (it) m or f Latin: implācābilis, implācābile n Manx: neuveeinagh Maori: kaikiko Norwegian: uforsonlig (no) Persian: رام نشدنی‎, آشتی ناپذیر‎ Portuguese: implacável (pt) Romanian: implacabil (ro) Russian: непримири́мый (ru) (neprimirímyj), неумоли́мый (ru) (neumolímyj), закля́тый (ru) (zakljátyj) (of an enemy) Spanish: implacable (es) Turkish: yatıştırılamaz Ukrainian: непримире́нний (neprymyrénnyj), непримири́мий (neprymyrýmyj)

impossible to prevent or stop — See also translations at inexorable,‎ unstoppable

Bulgarian: жесток (bg) m (žestok) French: implacable (fr), irréductible (fr) Georgian: შეუბრალებელი (šeubralebeli) Greek: αδυσώπητος (el) m or n (adysópitos), αδυσώπητη (el) f (adysópiti) Italian: implacabile (it) m or f Manx: neuveeinagh Russian: неумолимый (ru) (neumolimyj) Spanish: implacable (es) Ukrainian: невблаганний (nevblahannyj), непримире́нний (neprymyrénnyj)

adamant; immovable — See also translations at adamant,‎ immovable

Bulgarian: непреклонен (bg) (nepreklonen) Danish: stædig (da) German: unerbittlich (de) Hungarian: kérlelhetetlen (hu) Romanian: de neclintit, ferm (ro), imobil (ro), nemișcat (ro), nemișcabil Russian: непрекло́нный (ru) (nepreklónnyj), несдвига́емый (nesdvigájemyj) (immovable) Spanish: implacable (es), tenaz (es) Swedish: enveten (sv)

References

1. “implācāble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 December 2018.
2. “implacable, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1899; “implacable”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin implācābilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /im.pləˈka.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.plaˈka.ble/

Adjective

implacable (masculine and feminine plural implacables)

1. implacable (not able to be placated or appeased)

Derived terms

• implacablement

Related terms

• implacabilitat

Further reading

• “implacable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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French

Etymology

From Latin implācābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pla.kabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

implacable (plural implacables)

1. implacable, harsh, unrelenting

Derived terms

• implacabilité
• implacablement

Further reading

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

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin implācābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /implaˈkable/ [ĩm.plaˈka.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: im‧pla‧ca‧ble

Adjective

implacable (plural implacables)

1. implacable, harsh, unrelenting

Derived terms

• implacablemente

Related terms

• aplacar
• implacabilidad

Further reading

• “implacable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014