impossible, a. and n.
(ɪmˈpɒsɪb(ə)l)
Forms: 3 inpossibile, 4 in-, ympossible, impossibel, 4–6 impossyble, 5 inpossybyll, impossybul, Sc. impossibyll, 4– impossible.
[a. F. impossible (14th c.) = It. impossibile, or ad. (post-cl.) L. impossibilis, f. im- (im-2) + possibilis possible.]
A. adj.
1. a. Not possible; that cannot be done or effected; that cannot exist or come into being; that cannot be, in existing or specified circumstances. Const. to or for.
The exact sphere in which the thing is declared to be impossible is sometimes expressed by the advs. logically, mathematically, morally, physically (see these words).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14761 It es bot foli al þi talking, And als an inpossibile [Gött. impossible] thing. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6281 Swa witty and myghty es he Þat na-thyng til hym impossibel may be. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xii. 373 Nothyng is inpossybyll sothly that god wyll. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. i, None ought not to entremete hym to doo that that Impossyble is to hym. 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 126/1 They..laughed therat as at an impossible lye. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 274 We see that sometimes designs have been given over as impossible, and at another time..have been accomplished. 1751 Sir J. Hill Rev. Wks. Roy. Soc. (1780) 66 It becomes a wise Man not to think any Thing impossible. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 74 We reached a place where further advance was impossible. |
b. with infinitive complement (now usually active, sometimes passive).
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvi. 265 Summe of hem trowed, it were an Inpossible thing to be. 1476 J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 777 III. 164 It is non inpossybyll to bryng a bowght. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xvii, None ought to entermete hym self for to doo a thynge, whiche as for hym impossyble is to be done. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 5 b, His power impossible to be auoided, hangeth ouer them. 1656 Waller To my Ld. Protector x, What may be thought impossible to do By us. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 548 The rest was craggie cliff..impossible to climbe. |
c. Often qualifying an infinitive phrase, or substantive clause: commonly introduced by it.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 1108 To oure painede peple inpossible hit semeþ, Þat ȝe oure manerus mihte mekliche endure. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 336 Poule preueth it inpossible riche men haue [some MSS. to haue] heuene. 1382 Wyclif Heb. xi. 6 It is inpossible ony man for to plese God withoute feith. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 153 To ben a god is inpossible. a 1400–50 Alexander 2707 Inpossible it semes A heuy As to be houyn [Dublin MS. to heff] on hye to þe sternes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 17 It was impossyble for them to..wynne the sayd lande. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 285 It were impossible I should speed amisse. c 1712 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. (1887) II. 1, I believed it impossible you should forget me. 1852 H. Rogers Ecl. Faith (1853) 275 It is impossible that we should ever see levers perfectly inflexible. 1864 Daily Tel. 20 Sept., To give anything like a correct amount of the loss..would be impossible. 1890 Law Times Rep. LXIII. 766/2 It was impossible..for a loading berth to be secured. |
2. Math. Having no possible or real value, imaginary.
| 1673 Kersey Algebra I. 269 Impossible Roots are such whose values cannot be conceived or comprehended either Arithmetically or Geometrically; as in this Equation, a= 2-√-1,..for no Number can be imagined, which being multiplied by itself according to any Rule of Multiplication will produce -1. 1830 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 226 Coming, like impossible roots, by pairs. 1874 Todhunter Trig. xix. §271 (1882) 216 If n be even, the last term..is possible..and the last term but one is impossible. |
3. In recent use, with ellipsis of some qualification suggested by the context; as, impossible to deal with, to carry into practice, to do anything with, to get on with, to tolerate, to recognize; utterly unsuitable or impracticable, ‘out of the question’.
| 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. iii. vi. I. 247 Never was a spirited young fellow placed in more impossible position. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. 19 Oxford..adorable dreamer..home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names, and impossible loyalties! 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly II. 173 To all the world except Jack and Agatha, she was an impossible girl; she said things that no other girl would have said. 1884 Harper's Mag. May 911/2 The..ghosts..made the place absolutely impossible. 1886 G. Allen & Mary Cotes Kalee's Shrine i. 17 The dear old ugly lady..in the speckly dress and impossible bonnet. |
B. n.
1. = impossibility. rare in sing.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 476 (525) That wyst he wel an inpossible were. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. iv. (Skeat) l. 152 If I graunte contradiccion, I should graunt an impossible. c 1440 J. Capgrave St. Kath. iv. 662 Your secte..May not stande..Right for þe impossibles whiche þer-inne ȝe hepe. 1472 J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 701 III. 53 Your desyer..was an impossoybyl to be browght abowght. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. ii. §5. 63 A bundle of incomprehensibles, unconceivables, and impossibles. 1789 T. Taylor Proclus II. 6 The nature of an impossible becomes known from the seventh [theorem]. 1866 Miss Mulock Christian's Mistake 130 Heaven sometimes converts our impossibles and inevitables into the very best blessings we have. |
2. With def. article: that which is or seems impossible.
| 1839 Bailey Festus 266 He only holds Perfections, which are but the impossible To other beings. 1895 C'tess Martinengo-Cesaresco Liberation of Italy xix. 394 Garibaldi..had always demanded the impossible of his men. 1904 Daily Chron. 6 May 7/5 The history of Christianity..had been a triumph of the impossible. 1916 Huneker Ivory, Apes & Peacocks 34 All three were consumptives..; all three suffered from the nostalgia of the impossible. a 1930 F. Nansen in Penguin Dict. Mod. Quots. (1971) 166/2 The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer. 1972 Pacifist Nov. 3/1 Remember the Festival motto:—be realistic—demand the impossible. |
C. Comb., as impossible-looking.
| 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle's Lett. I. 13 Certainly the impossiblest-looking literary problem I ever had. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 31 Mar., This impossible-looking constituency. |