intangible
/ɪnˈtæn.d͡ʒɪ.bəl/
intangible means incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal. It carries an Arena rating of 1854, earned across 22 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, intangible ranks #433 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #994 of 42,749 for Qualifying, #1,229 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,331 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
intangible is pronounced /ɪnˈtæn.d͡ʒɪ.bəl/.
Why “intangible” is a great word
Incapable of being perceived by the senses, especially by touch; having no physical substance. From Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Latin in- ("not") + tangibilis ("touchable"), from tangere ("to touch"), first recorded in English 1630–40. Unlike "incorporeal," which speaks of a spirit's absolute lack of body, or "abstract," which denotes a quality conceptually separated from any instance, "intangible" names the specific frustration of the fingers—the quality that slips through them. It is the chill of a shadow you cannot feel, the weight of a memory that leaves no impression on the pillow, the scent of rain minutes before the clouds break—the world's most palpable absence.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.
adj
- Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal.
- Difficult to define or describe clearly, but nonetheless perceived.e.g.“an intangible quality of serenity in the music”
noun
- Anything intangible.e.g.“Diaghilev's love for Nijinsky was as deep and as sincere and reliant as a bond could be, it being based on all those intangibles of love that cannot be enumerated.” — 1980 April 5, Aaron Cohen, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, in Gay Community News, page 12:
- Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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