indiscernibleadj.n.
/ɪndᵻˈsəːnɪb(ə)l//ɪndᵻˈzəːnɪb(ə)l/ A. adj.
1. Incapable of being discerned by the senses or intellect; imperceptible; undiscoverable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [adjective]
uncouthc897
unnimlyc1225
incomprehensiblea1340
unsearchablec1384
unknowable?c1400
investigablea1425
uncomprehensiblea1425
unthinkablec1445
imperscrutablec1450
inscrutablec1450
inopinable?a1475
incomprenable1502
unspectable?1504
incogitablec1522
uncogitable1529
impenetrable1531
inimaginable1534
inexplicable1555
unsensible1555
unscrutable1562
unfashionable1563
unpenetrable1581
unexcogitable1592
ineffable1598
inexcogitable1599
indivinable1603
ininvestigable1604
incapable1605
searchless?1606
uncomprehensive1609
unconceivable1611
undivinable1611
unimaginable1611
unexplicable1615
unintelligible1616
unapprehensible?1617
unfathomable1617
imprehensible1622
ununderstandablea1631
indeprehensible1633
indiscernible1635
inscrute1639
inapprehensiblea1641
indiscoverable1640
unexaminable1641
impervestigable1643
fathomless1645
inconceivable1646
indeterminable1646
inexplorable1646
insearchable1647
incomprehended1652
comprehendlessa1654
incomprehensive1656
untraceable1661
uninvestigablea1677
unintelligent1683
incognoscible1691
thought-transcendinga1711
uncognizable1720
acataleptic1727
undescriptive1744
elusive1751
impalpable1781
inaccessible1796
unconjecturable1806
uncognoscible1821
unascertainable1827
unfixable1831
unguessable1832
unrealizable1832
unsurveyable1833
hard-shelled1835
unintellective1837
undeemed1845
graspless1849
unconjectured1850
incognizable1852
ungraspable1853
unreadable1853
super-cerebral1854
elusory1856
trans-conscious1865
intangible1880
uncatchable1892
unspelt1892
unplumbable1895
unknowledgeable1920
indiscutable1933
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 154 Dew..falleth down in very small and indiscernible drops.
1640 W. Crabtrie in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 27 283 The light of the Sun..doth make it..indiscernable.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 18 An Animal..whose whole bulk to the bare eye is quite indiscernable.
1754 Bp. T. Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. 63 His Wisdom and Holiness, and even his Mercy, are as indiscernible as his Justice.
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone 34 A rapid look, indiscernible by male eye.
1879 C. Rossetti Seek & Find 192 Be the stars at a given moment discernible or indiscernible by our vision.
2. That cannot be distinguished (from something else); indistinguishable. Obsolete or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > misjudgement > indiscriminateness > [adjective] > indistinguishable
indiscrete1608
indiscernible1646
indiscerned1652
confoundable1813
indistinctive1846
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxv. 176 That red and sanguineous humor..affording in linnen or paper an indiscernable tincture from blood. View more context for this quotation
1825 C. Waterton Wanderings in S. Amer. (1887) i. 79 The mountains gradually retire..till they are indiscernible from the clouds in which they are involved.
B. n.
1. A thing (animal, etc.) that cannot be discerned by the senses.
ΚΠ
1835 W. Kirby On Power of God in Creation of Animals I. iv. 149 The infusories, or as they have been also called animalcules, microscopic animals, acrita or indiscernibles.
2. metaphorical. A thing that cannot be distinguished from some other thing or things. identity of indiscernibles: the doctrine that things cannot exist together as separate entities unless they have different attributes.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > misjudgement > indiscriminateness > [noun] > indistinctness > that which is indistinct
indiscernible1717
1717 S. Clarke tr. G. W. Leibniz in Papers between Leibnitz & Clarke 173 This Supposition of two Indiscernibles, such as two Pieces of Matter perfectly alike, seems indeed to be possible in abstract Terms.
1877 E. Caird Crit. Acct. Philos. Kant Introd. v. 82 Where there is no difference, there is no activity, and hence no substance or individuality. This is the meaning of the celebrated ‘identity of indiscernibles’.
1882 Sat. Rev. 11 Mar. 289 Mr. Gladstone, whose ingenuity in detecting the non-identity of indiscernibles..has been sharpened by this matter to a preternatural degree.
Derivatives
indiˈscernibleness n. the quality of being indiscernible.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [noun]
obscuritya1522
incomprehensibility1598
entangledness1611
unconceivableness1611
unsearchableness1611
indiscernibleness1649
inscrutability1654
undiscoverableness1656
unscrutableness1657
unimaginableness1659
inconceivableness1661
unintelligibility1661
imperscrutableness1664
unknowableness1664
unintelligibleness1678
unfathomableness1690
inscrutableness1727
incognoscibility1824
uncognoscibility1827
unconjecturability1827
impenetrability1847
inconceivability1847
intangibility1847
untraceableness1856
incognizabilityc1860
incomprehensibleness1862
unknowability1863
unthinkability1865
elusiveness1873
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > misjudgement > indiscriminateness > [noun] > indistinctness
indistinction1644
indiscernibleness1649
indistinctiveness1837
indiscernibility1878
1649 H. Hammond Christians Obligations iv. 99 I should have shew'd you also the indiscernablenesse (to the eye of man) of the difference of these distant states.
1885 Sat. Rev. 30 May 717 The human mind is seldom found in such a state of indiscernibleness.
indiˈscernibly adv. in an indiscernible manner, imperceptibly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adverb]
unseyenlyc1175
unvisiblyc1380
invisibly1382
unperceivablyc1390
unseeablya1395
unsightilyc1440
unsightfullyc1480
undiscernably1594
imperceptibly1603
imperceivably1617
indiscernibly1636
undiscernibly1655
inconspicuously1661
viewlessly1826
inappreciably1860
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [adverb]
inscrutably1597
unknownly1611
inaccessibly1621
over a person's heada1626
unconceivably1630
indiscernibly1636
unintelligibly1664
unimaginably1666
unsearchably1706
impenetrably1759
unfathomablya1822
unrecognizably1836
incomprehensibly1863
untraceably1875
indigestibly1977
1636 T. Goodwin Childe of Light i. 62 He is able indiscernibly to communicate all his false reasonings.
1821 T. De Quincey J. P. F. Richter in London Mag. Dec. 608/1 The pathetic and the humorous..melt indiscernibly into each other.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1635