imperceptible, a. (n.)
(ɪmpəˈsɛptɪb(ə)l)
Also 7 inp-.
[a. F. imperceptible (1425 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. med.L. imperceptibil-is, f. im- (im-2) + perceptibil-is perceptible.]
Not perceptible; incapable of being perceived. a. That by its nature cannot be perceived or discerned; naturally incapable of affecting the perceptive faculties.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 201 b, Sodeynly in tyme imperceptyble he fourmed that moost blessed body in her wombe. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1019 As for the soule it is invisibile, yea and inperceptible to all the naturall senses. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 44 Some diseases..proceeding from an imperceptible vermin within us. 1840 Hood Kilmansegg, Christening x, He..Seem'd washing his hands with invisible soap In imperceptible water. |
b. So slight, gradual, subtle, or indistinct as not to be perceptible.
| 1635–56 Cowley Davideis iv. 383 Strange Play of Fate! when might'iest humane things Hang on such small, Imperceptible Strings! 1737 [S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. 78 An imperceptible Dew, which tho' not so thick as a Fog, moisten'd the Surface of the Ground. 1853 Ruskin Stones Ven. II. vi, The three classes..pass into each other by imperceptible gradations. 1880 Geikie Phys. Geog. iv. 216 The solid earth is subject to movements either sudden and violent, or slow and imperceptible. |
B. n. An imperceptible thing or creature; with the: that which is imperceptible.
| 1709 Addison Tatler No. 119 ¶2, I should be wonderfully pleased to see a natural History of Imperceptibles, containing a true Account of such Vegetables and Animals as grow and live out of Sight. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xii. §93 (1875) 278 An entire history of anything must include its appearance out of the imperceptible and its disappearance into the imperceptible. |
Hence imperˈceptibleness, imperceptibility.
| 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. i. 18 By reason of their..subtilty and imperceptibleness to us. 1882 J. Parker Apost. Life I. 15 The gradient has evermore lifted itself up by imperceptibleness of degree. |