α. 1600s unrecrutible, 1700s unrecruitible.
β. 1700s– unrecruitable.
unrecruitableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnrᵻˈkruːtəbl/, U.S. /ˌənrəˈkrudəb(ə)l/ That cannot be recruited (in various senses).In quot. 1644: incapable of getting recruits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > incurable or uncured
uncurablea1425
unconvalesced1590
uncured1601
unrecruitable1644
unrecovered1682
unrestored1742
1644 J. Milton Of Educ. 7 Their empty & unrecrutible [1720 Poet. Wks. unrecruitible; 1723 in T. Le Fèvre Compend. Way teaching Learned Langs. unrecruitable] Colonells of twenty men in a company.
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Unrecruitable, incapable of being recruited.
1826 J. A. Paris Treat. Diet i. 51 Although we cannot augment the allotted measure of vital energy, we can..learn..not to consume, with wanton indifference, the unrecruitable oil by which the lamp of life is supported.
1883 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) IV. 514/2 Unrecruitable health, strength, &c.
1915 Financial Times 10 July 2/5 He would urge all employers to help in this matter by releasing all men qualified for service with the Colours and replacing them by men of unrecruitable age or by women.
1962 R. W. B. Lewis in R. E. Spiller Time of Harvest xiv. 150 The persons he meets..are constantly trying to get possession of him... In a world demoniacally eager to recruit, Augie March is the unrecruitable man.
2003 M. R. Solomon Conquering Consumerspace iv. 110 Shaklee excels at recruiting salespeople from groups most companies would consider unrecruitable, including the Amish, Mennonites, and Hasidic Jews.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1644