different between plausible vs inevitable

English

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis (“deserving applause, praiseworthy, acceptable, pleasing”), from the participle stem of plaudere (“to applaud”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?pl??z.?.b?l/, /?pl??z.?.b?l/

Adjective

plausible (comparative more plausible, superlative most plausible)

1. Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; conceivably true or likely

   • In short, the twin assumptions that syntactic rules are category-based, and that there are a highly restricted finite set of categories in any natural language (perhaps no more than a dozen major categories), together with the assumption that the child either knows (innately) or learns (by experience) that all rules are structure-dependent ( =category-based), provide a highly plausible model of language acquisition, in which languages become learnable in a relatively short, finite period of time (a few years).

2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious.

   a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion

3. (obsolete) Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hacket to this entry?)

   • 1955, Lincoln and the Bluegrass: Slavery and Civil War in Kentucky

     […] a coachman named Richard, who was described as a "sensible, well-behaved yellow boy, who is plausible and can read and write."

Derived terms

• plausible deniability
• plausibility
• plausibly

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis.

Adjective

plausible (masculine and feminine plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Derived terms

• plausiblement

Further reading

• “plausible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “plausible” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “plausible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “plausible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

plausible (plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Further reading

• “plausible” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Adjective

plausible m or f (plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis.

Adjective

plausible (plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Further reading

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

English

Etymology

From Middle French inevitable, from Latin in?v?t?bilis (“unavoidable”), from in- + ?v?t?bilis (“avoidable”), from ?v?t?re (“to avoid”), from ?- (“out”) + v?t?re (“to shun”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n??v?t?b?l/

Adjective

inevitable (not comparable)

1. Impossible to avoid or prevent.
2. Predictable, or always happening.
   • 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl

     This horse and rider, with their free, rhythmical gallop, were the only moving things to be seen on the face of the flat country. They seemed, in the last sad light of evening, not to be there accidentally, but as an inevitable detail of the landscape.

Usage notes

Largely synonymous with unavoidable, slightly more formal (borrowed as a unit from Latin, rather than formed in English), and with nuances of a natural consequence that occurs after – “inevitable punishment”, “inevitable result”. By contrast, unavoidable has some nuance of existing circumstances – “I was unavoidably detained.” – without there necessarily being a cause.

Further, unavoidable has nuances of “could not have happened any other way, even if circumstances were different”, while inevitable connotes “given circumstances, this is the necessary result.” Compare “the disaster was inevitable”, meaning “sooner or later the disaster would happen (because they did not prepare)” with “the disaster was unavoidable”, meaning “even if they had prepared, the disaster would have happened”.

Often used with a negative connotation, but may be used with a positive or neutral sense of fate, as in “Given our preparations, our victory was inevitable.” in which case *unavoidable is not acceptable.

In the same manner, impreventable and inevitable have different nuances. The sense “the disease was inevitable” means “It was natural to suffer the disease”; the sense “the disease was impreventable” means “There were no preventive methods against the disease”.

Thus, "inevitable" indicates "unable to avoid due to natural or necessary matters", "unavoidable" indicates "unable to avoid due to incidental matters", impreventable indicates "unable to avoid due to the absence of preventive methods".

Synonyms

• (impossible to avoid): inescapable, unavoidable, impreventable; See also Thesaurus:inevitable
• (naturally impossible to avoid): natural, necessary
• (always happening): certain, necessary

Antonyms

• (impossible to avoid): evitable, escapable, avoidable, preventable; See also Thesaurus:avoidable
• (always happening): impossible, incidental; See also Thesaurus:circumstantial

Derived terms

• inevitability
• inevitably
• inevitableness

Translations

Noun

inevitable (plural inevitables)

1. Something that is predictable, necessary, or cannot be avoided.

Antonyms

• evitable
• impossible

References

• inevitable/unavoidable, WordReference.com

Further reading

• inevitable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• inevitable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• inevitable at OneLook Dictionary Search

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin in?v?t?bilis.

Adjective

inevitable (epicene, plural inevitables)

1. inevitable

Related terms

• evitar

Catalan

Etymology

in- +? evitable

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /i.n?.vi?ta.bl?/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /i.n?.bi?ta.bl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /i.ne.vi?ta.ble/
• Rhymes: -a?le

Adjective

inevitable (masculine and feminine plural inevitables)

1. inevitable

Derived terms

• inevitablement

Galician

Alternative forms

• inevitábel

Etymology

From Latin in?v?t?bilis.

Adjective

inevitable m or f (plural inevitables)

1. inevitable

Antonyms

• evitable

Derived terms

• inevitablemente

Middle French

Adjective

inevitable m or f (plural inevitables)

1. inevitable; unavoidable

Descendants

• French: inévitable

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin in?v?t?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inebi?table/, [i.ne.??i?t?a.??le]

Adjective

inevitable (plural inevitables)

1. inevitable, inescapable, unavoidable (unable to be avoided)

   Antonym: evitable

Derived terms

• inevitablemente

Related terms

• evitar