- intertextuality (n.)
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- by 1974 in literary criticism, from inter- "between" + textual + -ity. Related: Intertextual (1879).
- incentivize (v.)
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- by 1970, from incentive (adj.) + -ize. Related: Incentivized; incentivizing.
- impactful (adj.)
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- 1961, originally in advertising, from impact (n.) + -ful. Related: Impactfully; impactfulness.
- interline (v.)
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- c. 1400, "make corrections or insertions between the lines of (a document)," from inter- "between" + line; perhaps modeled on Old French entreligniere or Medieval Latin interlineare "write between lines." Related: Interlined; interlining; interlineation.
- -ine (2)
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- word-forming element in chemistry, often interchangeable with -in (2), though modern use distinguishes them; early 19c., from French -ine, the suffix commonly used to form words for derived substances, hence its extended use in chemistry. It was applied unsystematically at first (as in aniline), but now has more restricted use.
The French suffix is from Latin -ina, fem. form of -inus, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, and thus is identical with -ine (1).
- -ing (2)
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- suffix used form the present participle of verbs, and adjectives derived from them, from Old English present participle suffix -ende, from PIE *-nt- (cognates: German -end, Gothic -and, Sanskrit -ant, Greek -on, Latin -ans, -ens). The vowel weakened in late Old English and the spelling with -g began 13c.-14c. among Anglo-Norman scribes who naturally confused it with -ing (1).
- -iana
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- form of -ana (q.v.) with nouns whose adjectival forms end in -ian.
- -id
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- adjectival word-forming element, especially in zoology, "belonging to, connected with, member of a group or class," in some cases probably via from French -ide, back-formed from Modern Latin names of zoological classes in -idae, as arachnid "a spider" from the biological class name arachnidae.
This -idae is the plural of Latin -ides, a masculine patronymic (indicating "descent from"), from Greek -ides "son of," denoting descent from the person to whose name it is attached (such as Heraklides).
In astronomy, of meteor showers, "having its radiant in" the constellation named (Perseid, Leonid, etc.), it probably represents Latin -idis, from Greek -idos, the genitive of the feminine form of the patronymic suffix.
- -ina
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- fem. word- and name-forming element, from Latin -ina (see -ine (1)), or its identical descendants in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian. The French form is -ine. As a suffix in royal titles (czarina, etc.) it represents an extension from Latin regina.
- -ite (2)
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- chemical salt suffix, from French -ite, alteration of -ate (see -ate (3)).
- -ization
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- word-forming element making nouns of action, process, or state; see -ize + -ation.
- ice-cold (adj.)
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- Old English isceald; see ice (n.) + cold (adj.).
- ice-skate (v.)
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- 1690s, from ice (n.) + skate (n.2). The verb usually was simply skate until the advent of roller-skating mid-18c. made distinction necessary. A run of severe winters that froze over the Thames in the late 17c. made ice-skating popular in England. Related: ice-skates (1862).
- iconoclasm (n.)
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- 1797 in reference to an act of breaking or destroying idols physically; figuratively from 1858 in reference to beliefs, cherished institutions, etc.; see iconoclast. An older word for it was iconomachy (1580s), from Greek eikonomakhia (see -machy).
- iconoclastic (adj.)
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- 1640s; see iconoclast + -ic. Related: Iconoclastically.
- Ida
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- fem. proper name, Medieval Latin, from Old High German Ida, which is perhaps related to Old Norse ið "work." As the name of a mountain near Troy and one in Crete, it probably is a different word, of unknown or non-IE origin; related: Idaean.
- idealistic (adj.)
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- "striving after perfect good," 1819; see idealist + -ic. Related: Idealistically.
- idle (v.)
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- late 15c., "make vain or worthless" (trans.), from idle (adj.). Meaning "spend or waste (time)" is from 1650s. Meaning "cause to be idle" is from 1788. Intrans. sense of "run slowly and steadily without transmitting power" (as a motor) first recorded 1916. Related: Idled; idling. As a noun, 1630s of persons, 1939 of an engine setting.
- image (v.)
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- late 14c., "to form a mental picture (of something), imagine," from Old French imagier, from image (see image (n.)). Related: Imaged; imaging.
- irremediably (adv.)
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- mid-15c., irremediabili, from irremediable + -ly (2).
- irreparably (adv.)
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- mid-15c., from irreparable + -ly (2).
- -ier
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- word-forming element indicating "one whose occupation has to do with," from French and Old French -ier, from Latin -arius (see -ary). Nativized and used to form English words (glazier, hosier, etc.) Also see -yer, and compare -eer.
- Ignatius
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- masc. proper name, from Latin Ignatius, collateral form of Egnatius. St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was one of the apostolic fathers, martyred under Trajan; a set of epistles was attributed to him. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuits. Related: Ignatian.
- ignivomous (adj.)
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- "vomiting fire," c. 1600, from Late Latin ignivomous, from Latin ignis "fire" (see igneous) + vomere "to vomit" (see vomit (n.)).
- ignitable (adj.)
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- 1640s; see ignite + -able. Ignite (adj.) "glowing with fire" is recorded from 1550s.
- -ile
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- also -il, word-forming element denoting ability or capacity, from Old French -il or directly from Latin adjectival suffix -ilis. Used in classical and Medieval Latin to form ordinal numbers, which accounts for its use from late 19c. in statistics (percentile, etc.).
- illative (adj.)
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- 1610s, "stating or introducing an inference" (of words such as because, then, therefore); 1630s, "inferential, arising from inference," from Late Latin illativus, from Latin illatus "brought in," used as past participle of inferre "to bring in, introduce" (see infer). Grammatical sense "case expressing motion into" is from 1890. As a noun from 1590s, "illative word." Related: Illation "action of inferring" (1530s).
- illth (n.)
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- "what leads one to a bad state or condition," 1867, coined by John Ruskin from ill (adv.) on model of wealth (also see -th (2)).
[S]uch things, and so much of them as he can use, are, indeed, well for him, or Wealth; and more of them, or any other things, are ill for him, or Illth. [Ruskin, "Munera Pulveris"]
- Illyria
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- ancient name of the country on the east shore of the Adriatic, at its greatest extending inland to the Danube, a name of obscure origin. Later a name of a division of Austria-Hungary including Carinthia, Slovenia, and the coastal region around Istria. Related: Illyrian.
- Immanuel
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- masc. proper name, literally "God with us;" see Emmanuel.
- immaculacy (n.)
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- "state of being immaculate," 1785; see immaculate + -cy. Earlier nouns were immaculateness (1640s), immaculation (c. 1600).
- immanence (n.)
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- "fact or state of indwelling," 1816; see immanent + -ence. Immanency is from 1650s.
- immarcescible (adj.)
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- also immarcessible (but this is considered less correct), "unfading, imperishable," early 15c., from Late Latin immarcescabilis from assimilated form of in- "not" (see in- (1)) + stem of Latin marcescere "to begin to wither, grow feeble, pine away" (see marcescent).
- immobility (n.)
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- early 15c., from Middle French immobilité (14c.) or directly from Latin immobilitatem (nominative immobilitas) "immovableness," noun of quality from Latin immobilis "immovable" (see immobile).
- immoderation (n.)
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- early 15c., from Latin immoderationem (nominative immoderatio) "want of moderation, excess," from immoderatus "unrestrained, excessive" (see immoderate).
- immodesty (n.)
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- 1590s, "lewdness, indecency;" c. 1600, "arrogance," from Latin immodestia "intemperate conduct," from immodestus "unrestrained, excessive" (see immodest).
- immortelle (n.)
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- "flower which preserves its shape and color after being dried" (also known as an everlasting), 1832, from French fem. of immortel "undying," from Latin immortalis (see immortal).
- immutability (n.)
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- 1590s, from Latin immutabilitas "unchangeableness," from immutabilis "unchangeable" (see immutable).
Nought may endure but Mutability. [Shelley]
- impairment (n.)
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- mid-14c., emparement, from Old French empeirement, from empeirier (see impair). Re-Latinized spelling is from 1610s.
- impalement (n.)
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- 1590s, "act of enclosing with stakes," from impale (v.) + -ment, perhaps on model of French empalement; formerly in English it often was spelled empalement. In reference to the method of torture/punishment from 1620s.
- impanate (adj.)
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- "present in the (consecrated) bread," 1540s, from Church Latin impanatus, past participle of impanare "to embody in bread," from assmiliated form of in- "in, into" (see in- (2)) + panis "bread," from PIE root *pa- "to feed" (see food). Related: Impanation (1540s), from Medieval Latin impanationem.
- impassioned (adj.)
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- "expressive of strong feeling, filled with passion," c. 1600, past participle adjective from impassion.
- impassionate (adj.)
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- "free from passion, dispassionate," 1620s, from in- (1) "not" + passionate. Related: Impassionately. From 1590s as "strongly affected, stirred by passion," from Italian impassionato, past participle of impassionare (see impassion).
- impartiality (n.)
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- "fairness, freedom from bias," 1610s; see impartial + -ity.
- impendent (adj.)
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- 1590s, from Latin impendentem (nominative impendens) "impending," present participle of impendere "to hang over" (see impend). Related: Impendence.
- impenitence (n.)
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- 1620s, from Late Latin impaenitentia, from impaenitens (see impenitent). The older form in English is Impenitency (1560s).
- imperative (n.)
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- mid-15c., in grammar; later "something imperative" (c. 1600), from Old French imperatif in the grammatical sense (13c.) and directly from Late Latin imperativus (see imperative (adj.)). In philosophy from 1796.
- IBM
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- also (in early use) I.B.M., initialism (acronym) attested by 1921 from International Business Machines Co.; the company name in use from 1918.
- incident (adj.)
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- late 15c., "likely to happen," from Latin incidentem (nominative incidens), present participle of
incidere "to happen, befall" (see incident (n.)). From 1620s as "occurring as a subordinate;" 1660s in literal sense "falling or striking upon."
- inclinable (adj.)
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- "amenable, disposed, having a mental bent in a certain direction," mid-15c., from Old French enclinable and directly from Latin inclinabilis, from inclinare (see incline (v.)).