inapproximable
|in-ap-prox-i-ma-ble|
🇺🇸
/ˌɪnəˈprɑksɪməbəl/
🇬🇧
/ˌɪnəˈprɒksɪməbl/
cannot be closely approximated
Etymology
'inapproximable' originates from Latin via Medieval/Neo‑Latin and French, specifically the verb 'approximare' (Late Latin), where the prefix 'ad-' (later assimilated to 'ap-/appro-') meant 'to, toward' and 'proximus' meant 'nearest'.
'inapproximable' developed by combining the negative prefix 'in-' with 'approximable' (from Late Latin 'approximabilis' / Medieval Latin 'approximare' → Old French/Anglo‑French forms and Middle English 'approximate'), yielding the modern English adjective.
Originally related to making or coming near ('to make near' from Latin roots); over time 'approximable' came to mean 'able to be estimated or represented closely', and 'inapproximable' now means 'not able to be approximated' (including technical senses in math/CS).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not able to be approximated; impossible or extremely difficult to estimate or represent closely.
The sculpture's texture was so complex that its detail was effectively inapproximable in a digital model.
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Adjective 2
(Mathematics / computer science) Not able to be approximated within a specified bound or by a given class of algorithms — used to describe functions, numbers, or computational problems that lack good approximations.
The problem is proven to be inapproximable within any reasonable factor unless P = NP.
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Last updated: 2025/12/27 04:13