intangible

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French intangible, from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tango.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtæn.d͡ʒɪ.bəl/, [ɪnˈtæn.d͡ʒɪ.bl̩]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (British):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtæn.d͡ʒə.bəl/

Adjective

intangible (comparative more intangible, superlative most intangible)

1. Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incorporeal.

Antonyms

• tangible

Derived terms

• intangible asset
• intangible cultural heritage
• intangibleness
• intangibly

 

Translations

incapable of being perceived

• Arabic: غَيْر مَلْمُوس (ḡayr malmūs), مَعْنَوِيّ (maʕnawiyy)
• Bulgarian: неуловим (bg) (neulovim), неосезаем (bg) (neosezaem)
• Catalan: intangible
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無形的 / 无形的 (wúxíng de)

• Czech: nehmatatelný, nehmotný
• Dutch: ontastbaar (nl), ongrijpbaar (nl)
• Finnish: abstrakti (fi), aineeton (fi)
• French: intangible (fr), immatériel (fr)
• German: abstrakt (de), ungreifbar (de), immateriell (de), vage (de), unklar (de)
• Greek: ασαφής (el) m or f (asafís), ακαθόριστος (el) m (akathóristos), αδιόρατος (el) m (adióratos), αόριστος (el) m (aóristos)
• Japanese: 無形 (ja) (mukei)
• Kazakh: бейматериалдық (beimaterialdyq), материалды емес (materialdy emes), материалдық емес (materialdyq emes)
• Latin: intactilis
• Manx: neuventynagh, neuloaghtagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: immateriell

  Nynorsk: immateriell

• Polish: nieuchwytny (pl) m
• Romanian: intangibil (ro) m, de neatins, nepalpabil m
• Russian: неосязаемый (ru) (neosjazajemyj)
• Spanish: intangible (es)

Noun

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. Anything intangible
   • 1980 April 5, Aaron Cohen, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, in Gay Community News, page 12:

     Diaghilev's love for Nijinsky was as deep and as sincere and reliant as a bond could be, it being based on all those intangibles of love that cannot be enumerated.

2. (law) Incorporeal property that is saleable though not material, such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, and promissory notes

Translations

anything intangible

• Dutch: ontastbare (nl) n
• Finnish: aineeton asia
• Greek: άυλος (el) m (áylos)
• Japanese: 触れられないもの

French

Etymology

From in- +‎ tangible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.ʒibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

intangible (plural intangibles)

1. intangible

   Synonym: immatériel

   Antonym: tangible

Derived terms

• intangiblement

See also

• intouchable
• impalpable
• insensible

Further reading

• “intangible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin intangibilis, from Late Latin tangibilis, from Latin tangō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /intanˈxible/ [ĩn̪.t̪ãŋˈxi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: in‧tan‧gi‧ble

Adjective

intangible m or f (masculine and feminine plural intangibles)

1. intangible

   Antonym: tangible

Derived terms

• intangibilidad
• intangiblemente

 

Related terms

• tangible

 

Further reading

• “intangible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10