immovable, a. (and n.)
(ɪˈmuːvəb(ə)l)
Also 4 inmoeueable, 5 inmeuable, 5–6 immoov(e)able, 6– immoveable.
[f. im-2 + movable. Cf. obs. F. immo(u)vable.]
That cannot be moved.
A. adj.
1. lit. That cannot be moved physically; firmly fixed; incapable of movement. Often less strictly: Motionless, stationary, fixed.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iv. (Skeat) l. 207 No reason defendeth, that some thing ne maie be in time temporell mouing, that in eterne is immouable. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 262/1 Inmeuable, immobilis. 1555 Eden Decades 325 Armies of men passe ouer the immouable ise. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 35 The earth was in the middle centre pight, In which it doth immoueable abide. 1662 J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 214 They lie down all along upon the ground, immovable as Statues. 1774 C. J. Phipps Voy. N. Pole 157 By these means the point of suspension of the pendulum is rendered much more immovable. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 168 The articulations are naturally divided into..the moveable and the immoveable. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. xi. 255 In his eyes the sun stood immovable in the centre of the universe. |
2. fig. Not subject to change; unalterable, fixed. immovable feast: see feast n. 1.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. vi. 173 (B.M. Addit. MS.) Þis ilke infinite moeuyng of temporel þinges folwiþ þis presentarie estat of þe lijf inmoeueable. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) P ij b, The..realm of Egypt..hadde a lawe immouable. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 312 Kingdoms..increasing to a greatness in the eye of sense immovable, and at last concluding in soil and dirt. 1706 Phillips s.v. Moveable Feasts, The Immoveable Feasts are those, which..constantly fall on the same Day of the Month. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 209 Words which his heedful soul had kept immovable ever. |
b. Incapable of being diverted from one's purpose: steadfast, unyielding.
| 1534 Elyot Doctr. Princes 8 It becometh..to princes in matter of justice, to have the minde immoveable. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 16 Resting immooveable in his counsels, and most obstinate in his opinion. 1759 Johnson Rasselas xviii, Heroes immovable by pain or pleasure. 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. xxiii, Mr. Jorkins has his opinions on these subjects... Mr. Jorkins is immovable. |
c. Incapable of being stirred or affected with feeling; emotionless, impassive.
| 1639 Brugis tr. Camus' Mor. Relat. 229 His silence and his immoveable countenance gave..an answer which was not favourable. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, His features were immovable. |
3. Law. Not liable to be removed; permanent: applied to lands, houses, etc., as opposed to movable goods.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. i. 277 Immouable godis. 1590 Swinburne Testaments 65 Of immoueable thinges, as of houses, or of demeanes, or of glebe, and such like, ecclesiasticall persons can not dispose by their testaments. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxiv. 130 All commodities, Moveable, and Immoveable. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 84 When an Executor begins to meddle with the immoveable Estate, before he has seiz'd on the moveable Goods. 1871 W. Markby Elem. Law §117 Thus land is..both physically and legally immoveable. |
B. n. (Law.) A piece or article of property that is immovable (see A. 3); almost always in pl. Immovable property, as land and things adherent thereto, as trees, buildings, servitudes.
| 1588 J. Mellis Briefe Instr. B j, This..Inuentorie of all my goods, moueables, and immoueables. 1677 Govt. Venice 193 Contracts..relating to the buying of Houses, Lands, or Ships (Ships being accounted immovables in Venice by reason of its scituation). a 1832 Bentham Princ. Penal Law Wks. 1843 I. 513 If he has property, it consists either in immoveables, or in moveables. 1884 Law Times Rep. LI. 119/1 The property..is, as regards immovables, governed by the law of England. |