invariable

invariable

English

Etymology

    From in- + variable.

    Pronunciation

    • (General American) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɛɹ.i.ə.bl̩/
    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɛə.ɹi.ə.bl̩/
    • (Texas, possibly obsolete) IPA(key): /ɪnˈvɛɚbl̩/[1]
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Hyphenation: in‧va‧ri‧able

    Adjective

    invariable (not comparable)

    1. Not variable; unalterable; uniform; always having the same value.
      • 1860, Isaac Taylor, Ultimate Civilisation:
        Physical laws which are invariable.
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
        “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action.
      • 1957 October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 714:
        The rebuilt "Merchant Navy" Pacifics have the monopoly of these workings, and Mr. C. K. Dunkley writes that as a result of their reduced water consumption, as compared with the unrebuilt engines, some engine-crews no longer spend time taking water at Southampton Central, the invariable practice previously.
    2. (mathematics) Constant.
    3. (by extension, grammar, of a word, or a grammatical class) That cannot undergo inflection, conjugation or declension.
      Synonym: uninflectable
      Hyponyms: indeclinable, inconjugable
      The French adjective marron ‘brown’ is invariable: it does not take the usual s in the plural.

    Quotations

    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:invariable.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Noun

    invariable (plural invariables)

    1. Something that does not vary; a constant.

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Stanley, Oma (1937), “II. Vowel Sounds in Unstressed and Partially Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § II.2, page 46. (/ɪnˈve˞┬ɚbl̩/, with /e/, in contrast to the next word mentioned on the same page which has /ɛ/)

    Catalan

    Etymology

    From in- +‎ variable.

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    invariable m or f (masculine and feminine plural invariables)

    1. invariable

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

      From in- +‎ variable.

      Pronunciation

      Adjective

      invariable (plural invariables)

      1. invariable

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      Spanish

      Etymology

      From in- +‎ variable.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /imbaˈɾjable/ [ĩm.baˈɾja.β̞le]
      • Rhymes: -able
      • Syllabification: in‧va‧ria‧ble

      Adjective

      invariable m or f (masculine and feminine plural invariables)

      1. invariable

      Derived terms

      Further reading