intractable

intractable

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ tractable.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɹæk.tə.bəl/

Adjective

intractable (comparative more intractable, superlative most intractable)

1. Not tractable; not able to be managed, controlled, governed or directed.
   • 1972, Edsger W. Dijkstra, The Humble Programmer (EWD340):

     And I cannot but expect that this will repeatedly lead to the discovery that an initially intractable problem can be factored after all.

2. (mathematics) (of a mathematical problem) Not able to be solved.
3. (of a problem) Difficult to deal with, solve, or manage.
4. (of a person) Stubborn; obstinate.
5. (medicine) Difficult to treat (of a medical condition).

Derived terms

• intractability
• intractableness
• intractably

Translations

not tractable

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: неподатлив (bg) (nepodatliv), непокорен (bg) (nepokoren) Catalan: intractable (ca) m or f Chinese: Mandarin: 難控制的／难控制的 (nán kòngzhì de), 難解決的／难解决的 (nán jiějué de) Czech: nezvladatelný m Dutch: onhandelbaar (nl) Finnish: vaikea (fi), hankala (fi), uppiniskainen (fi), itsepäinen (fi), omapäinen (fi) French: ingouvernable (fr) German: schwer handhabbar, verfahren (de) Hungarian: (material) szívós (hu), (person, esp. child) kezelhetetlen (hu), engedetlen (hu), rakoncátlan (hu), fegyelmezhetetlen Japanese: please add this translation if you can Latin: intractābilis Occitan: intractable Russian: неуправляемый (ru) (neupravljajemyj) Serbo-Croatian: intraktabilan, nesavladiv (sh) Spanish: inmanejable (es) Swedish: ohanterlig

mathematics: not able to be solved

Finnish: ratkaisematon (fi) French: insoluble (fr) Hungarian: megoldhatatlan (hu) Russian: неразрешимый (ru) (nerazrešimyj)

of a problem: difficult to deal with, solve, or manage

Finnish: vaikea (fi), hankala (fi), visainen (fi) Russian: трудноразрешимый (ru) (trudnorazrešimyj)

stubborn, obstinate — See also translations at stubborn,‎ obstinate

Bulgarian: упорит (bg) (uporit) Chinese: Mandarin: 倔強／倔强 (zh) (juéjiàng) Dutch: obstinaat (nl), koppig (nl) Finnish: itsepäinen (fi), omapäinen (fi), omavaltainen, vaikea (fi) French: intraitable (fr), buté (fr) German: störrisch (de), stur (de) Hungarian: makacs (hu), konok (hu), hajthatatlan (hu), csökönyös (hu) Maori: kakī mārō, upoko mārō Occitan: intractable Russian: упря́мый (ru) (uprjámyj), непода́тливый (ru) (nepodátlivyj), непоко́рный (ru) (nepokórnyj) Spanish: obstinado (es) Swedish: omedgörlig (sv)

medicine: difficult to treat

Bulgarian: упорит (bg) (uporit) Chinese: Mandarin: 難治癒的／难治愈的 (nán zhìyù de) Finnish: itsepintainen (fi), vaikea (fi) French: intraitable (fr) German: schwierig zu behandeln Hungarian: makacs (hu) Occitan: intractable Russian: трудноизлечи́мый (ru) (trudnoizlečímyj) Spanish: intratable (es) Swedish: svårbehandlad

References

• intractable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• intractable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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Catalan

Etymology

in- +‎ tractable

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /in.tɾəkˈta.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /in.tɾakˈta.ble/

Adjective

intractable (masculine and feminine plural intractables)

1. intractable

   Antonym: tractable

Further reading

• “intractable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “intractable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.