irrecoverable, a.
(ɪrɪˈkʌvərəb(ə)l)
[f. ir-2 + recover v. + -able: cf. recoverable and F. irrécouvrable (c 1586 in Littré).]
† 1. That cannot be recalled or revoked; irrevocable. Obs.
| 1540 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 115, I Syr Rog{supr} Gray..thoft I be seke in my body, maks my last Wyll irrecou'able & testament in manner & form folowyng. 1635 Gram. Warre D vij, There was giuen irrecouerable power to the deputed, to exile all corrupters of Grammar. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 377 Persons lying under an irrecoverable sentence of death. 1817 Chalmers Astron. Disc. v. (1852) 128 Loaded with the fetters of irrecoverable bondage. |
2. That cannot be recovered or got back: chiefly in reference to things lost.
| 1645 City Alarum 6 Occasions once lost are irrecoverable. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 250 The greater part is lost and buried in the Sea, where it is irrecoverable. 1782 Jefferson Notes Virginia xvi. (1787) 259 Their lands were..forfeited, and their debts irrecoverable. 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 131 Which renders the assurance irrecoverable if the ship is lost. 1835 I. Taylor Spir. Despot. i. 10 Without losing a day of irrecoverable time. |
3. Incapable of being restored to health; incurable; past recovery; incapable of being restored to life, as after drowning, suffocation, etc. arch.
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. Seneca, By some irrecouerable disease. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 607 Being taken with an irrecouerable Palsie, he well knew his time to be short. 1708 O. Bridgman in Phil. Trans. XXVI. 139 He fell..into a Violent Fever..and if not dead yet, is pronounced irrecoverable. 1772 Priestley ibid. LXII. 182 They..are sometimes affected so suddenly, that they are irrecoverable after a single inspiration. 1809 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 369 Irrecoverable ill health. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. viii. (ed. 2) 299 It is an erroneous opinion that persons are irrecoverable because life does not soon make its appearance. |
b. fig. Not capable of being remedied or rectified; that cannot be made good; irretrievable; irremediable; irreclaimable.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 169 Corbreid..brocht thaim to sic irrecoverabill afflictioun and slauchter, that thay micht nevir invade this realme during his liffe. 1586 Let. Earle Leycester 24 A person obdurate..and irrecouerable. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 31 The losse that both you and the Kingdome have now sustained, is irrecoverable. 1679 C. Nesse Antid. agst. Popery Ded. 8 A final and irrecoverable fall. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. vii. 53 After he sees his circumstances irrecoverable. 1808 G. Edwards Pract. Plan iii. 22 Extensive and irrecoverable deteriorations. 1878 F. A. Kemble Record of a Girlhood I. ii. 38 The loss of her favourite son affected her with irrecoverable sorrow. |
† 4. That cannot be recovered from. Obs.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World II. v. iii. §15. 441 Giuing some deadly and irrecouerable poyson. 1674 R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physic 190 Their pretended gentle Rest, to the shame of Medicine, is a horrid irrecoverable Sleep. |