ineffable: [15] Ineffable literally means ‘that cannot be spoken’. Its ultimate source was the Latin verb fārī ‘speak’, which has also given English fable, fame, fate, etc. Addition of the prefix ex- ‘out’ produced effārī ‘speak out’, from which the adjective ineffābilis was derived. In 19th-century English the word was used as a plural noun, like unmentionables, as a humorous euphemism for ‘trousers’ or ‘nether garments’: ‘shoes off, ineffables tucked up’, William Cory, Letters and Journals 1867. => fable, fame, fate
ineffable (adj.)
late 14c., from Old French ineffable (14c.) or directly from Latin ineffabilis "unutterable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + effabilis "speakable," from effari "utter," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fari "to say, speak," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)). Plural noun ineffables was, for a time, a jocular euphemism for "trousers" (1823). Related: Ineffably.
双语例句
1. The beauty of a sunset is ineffable.
日落的美是难以形容的.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. The terror had at long intervals given place to a feeling of an almost ineffable sweetness.
这种胆战心惊的感觉就偶尔让位给一种简直说不出的甜蜜的感觉了.
来自辞典例句
3. They threw this eager vitality of theirs into a vehement striving after the ineffable.
他们把他们的这种热烈的精力都投入了对一种无法表达的事物的强烈追求.
来自辞典例句
4. She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction, as if her cup of happiness were now full.
她发出了一声说不出多么满意的叹息, 仿佛她的幸福之杯已经斟满了.
来自辞典例句
5. Actually those ineffable parts are manifested in practical use.
