irreversible definition

English irreversible definition

Etymology

From ir- +‎ reversible.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪr.ɪˈvɜː.sə.bəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪr.ɪˈvɝ.sə.bəl/

Adjective

irreversible (not comparable)

1. Incapable of being reversed or turned about or back; incapable of being made to run backward.

   an irreversible engine

2. Incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled.

   an irreversible sentence or decree

   • 2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:

     Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese […] began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death.

3. (thermodynamics) Incapable of being reversed to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.

Related terms

• irreversibility

Translations

Catalan irreversible definition

Etymology

From ir- +‎ reversible.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /i.rə.vəɾˈsi.blə/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /i.rə.bərˈsi.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /i.re.veɾˈsi.ble/

Adjective

irreversible m or f (masculine and feminine plural irreversibles)

1. irreversible

Further reading

• “irreversible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Norwegian Bokmål irreversible definition

Adjective

irreversible

1. definite singular/plural of irreversibel

Norwegian Nynorsk irreversible definition

Adjective

irreversible

1. definite singular/plural of irreversibel

Spanish irreversible definition

Etymology

From ir- +‎ reversible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /irebeɾˈsible/ [i.re.β̞eɾˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: i‧rre‧ver‧si‧ble

Adjective

irreversible m or f (masculine and feminine plural irreversibles)

1. irreversible (not able to be reversed)

   Antonym: reversible

Derived terms

Further reading

• “irreversible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014