Word of the Day

: November 8, 2010

ineluctable

adjective in-ih-LUK-tuh-bul

What It Means

: not to be avoided, changed, or resisted : inevitable

ineluctable in Context

Even the best athletes have to contend with the ineluctable fact that they will grow older and must someday face opponents who are younger, faster, and stronger.

"The breadth and sweep of Ms. Mearns's dancing is extraordinary here, and she has an apparently instinctive sense of how to imprint a movement momentarily on the eye, even as it seems part of an ineluctable flow." -- From an article by Roslyn Sulcas in the New York Times, September 27, 2010

Did You Know?

Like drama, wrestling was popular in ancient Greece and Rome. "Wrestler," in Latin, is "luctator," and "to wrestle" is "luctari." "Luctari" also has extended senses -- "to struggle," "to strive," or "to contend." "Eluctari" joined "e-" ("ex-") with "luctari," forming a verb meaning "to struggle clear of." "Ineluctabilis" brought in the negative prefix "in-" to form an adjective describing something that cannot be escaped or avoided. English speakers borrowed the word as "ineluctable" around 1623. Another word that has its roots in "luctari" is "reluctant." "Reluctari" means "to struggle against" -- and someone who is "reluctant" resists or holds back.