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Origin and history of inapprehensible

inapprehensible(adj.)

"not intelligible," 1640s, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + apprehensible.

also from 1640s

Entries linking to inapprehensible

apprehensible(adj.)

late 15c., "capable of attaining," especially with the intellect, from Latin apprehensibilis "that can be seized," from apprehens-, past-participle stem of apprehendere "seize, take hold of" mentally or physically (see apprehend).

in-(1)

word-forming element meaning "not, opposite of, without" (also im-, il-, ir- by assimilation of -n- with following consonant, a tendency which began in later Latin), from Latin in- "not," cognate with Greek an-, Old English un-, all from PIE root *ne- "not."

In Old French and Middle English often en-, but most of these forms have not survived in Modern English, and the few that do (enemy, for instance) no longer are felt as negative. The rule of thumb in English has been to use in- with obviously Latin elements, un- with native or nativized ones.

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    plunder
    "take goods or valuable forcibly from, take by pillage or open force," 1630s, from German plündern, from Middle High German plunderen "to plunder," originally "to take away household furniture," from plunder (n.) "household goods, clothes," also "lumber, baggage" (14c.; compare M
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