untransportable
|un-trans-por-ta-ble|
🇺🇸
/ˌʌn.trænsˈpɔr.tə.bəl/
🇬🇧
/ˌʌn.trænsˈpɔː.tə.bəl/
not able to be carried
Etymology
'untransportable' originates from the prefix 'un-' (from Old English 'un-' meaning 'not') combined with the adjective 'transportable', which itself comes from Latin 'transportare', where 'trans-' meant 'across' and 'portare' meant 'to carry'.
'transportare' (Latin) passed into Old French as 'transporter' and into Middle English as 'transport'/'transporten'; the adjective 'transportable' developed (via the addition of the suffix '-able'), and the modern English 'untransportable' formed by adding the negative prefix 'un-'.
Initially 'transportare' meant 'to carry across'; over time the related adjective 'transportable' came to mean 'able to be carried', and the compound 'untransportable' now means 'not able to be transported'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not able to be transported; incapable of being moved or conveyed from one place to another (physically, technically, or legally).
The damaged stone blocks were untransportable and had to be preserved in situ.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/15 19:49