Dictionary

point of no return en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The expression originated in air navigation planning. The point along the planned flight path beyond which an aircraft will no longer be capable of returning to the takeoff airfield or an alternate airfield due to insufficient fuel is calculated before takeoff. This is mandatory for overwater flights or flights without alternates on route.

Meanings

1. The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin.
2. (figuratively) The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable.
   • After Munich it became daily more evident that Hitler had passed the point of no return. With every burst of news from Europe the inevitability of war became more certain. 1959, Roger Burlingame, I Have Known Many Worlds, page 216:
   • [...] this trickle of loss going on relentlessly week by week will gradually reduce miscellaneous merchandise loadings on the railways to a point of no return, where the entire business must be abandoned to cut steeply mounting losses. 1964 May, “News and Comment: Liner trains and the NUR”, in Modern Railways, page 290:
   • However, for slightly larger stars, no such final equilibrium state is possible, and in such a case the star will contract beyond a certain critical point — the point of no return — where complete gravitational collapse leading to a spacetime singularity is inevitable. 1999, Malcolm Ludvigsen, General Relativity: A Geometric Approach, page 152:
   • A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. 2005 September 16, Steve Connor, “Global warming 'past the point of no return”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 15 Jan 2007:

Forms

Relateds

inevitability · equitime · the die is cast

Synonyms

rubicon · PNR · PONR · threshold · event horizon

Translations (31)

ar حُصِّلَ مَا فِي الصُّدُورِ (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · fr point de non-retour (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · it punto di non ritorno (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · ru то́чка невозвра́та (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · uk то́чка непове́рнення (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · ar نُقْطَةُ اللَّاعَوْدَةِ (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · de Umkehrgrenzpunkt ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · bg то́чка на необрати́мост ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · pt ponto de não retorno (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · ru то́чка невозвра́та ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · pl punkt bez powrotu (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · fi paluurajakohta ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · ca punt de no-retorn (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · it punto di non ritorno ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · ja 帰還不能点 (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · nl punt van veilige terugkeer ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · ja 回帰不能点 ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · fr point de non-retour ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · ko 귀환 불능 지점 (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · nl punt vanwaaruit geen terugkeer mogelijk is (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · fi piste, josta ei ole paluuta (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · cmn 不歸路 /不归路 (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · ko 귀환 불능 지점 ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · he נְקֻדַּת הָאַל־חָזוֹר (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · ja 帰還不能点 ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · pt ponto de não retorno ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · fi toimintasäde ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · cy pwynt di-droi'n-ôl (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process) · cmn 航線臨界點 /航线临界点 ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · es punto de no retorno ((aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin) · es punto de no retorno (the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process)