unalterable en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree English un- English alter Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English alterable English unalterable From un- + alterable.
Meanings
-
Incapable of being altered, or of changing.
For instance, we’d need to make one of the following assumptions: (1) that the system will be programmed with an unalterable goal preservation meta-goal, (2) that the training process would select for such a meta-goal, or (3) that the adoption of the meta-goal itself is instrumentally convergent.
2025 June 13, Rhys Southan, Helena Ward, Jen Semler, “A timing problem for instrumental convergence”, in Philosophical Studies, Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC:... every statute in the Bible and in the law books is an attempt to defeaat a law of God—in other words an unalterable and indestructible law of nature.
c. 1909, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, Letter VIII:People of unalterable ideas still insisted upon calling him "Sergeant" when they met him, which was in some degree owing to his having still retained the well-shaped moustache of his military days, and the soldierly bearing inseparable from his form.
1874, Thomas Hardy, “Coming Home—A Cry”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 99–100:
- Irreversible, irrevocable.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more unalterable | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most unalterable | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
unalterableness · unalterably · unalterability
Synonyms
Translations (15)
de unumstößlich (incapable of being changed) · it inalterabile (incapable of being changed) · bg непроменим (incapable of being changed) · fr inaltérable (incapable of being changed) · ca inalterable (incapable of being changed) · bg неизменен (incapable of being changed) · ka შეუცვლადი (incapable of being changed) · el αμετάβλητος (incapable of being changed) · ka უცვლადი (incapable of being changed) · ka უცვლელი (incapable of being changed) · es inalterable (incapable of being changed) · ka არაცვლადი (incapable of being changed) · grc ἀμετάθετος (incapable of being changed) · ka შეუცვლელი (incapable of being changed) · pt inalterável (incapable of being changed)