different between populous vs impenetrable

English

Etymology

First used in English in the mid 15th century; from Latin populosus (“full of people, populous”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?pj?l?s/
• (US) enPR: päp?y?-l?s, IPA^(key): /?p?pj?l?s/
• Homophone: populace

Adjective

populous (comparative more populous, superlative most populous)

1. Having a large population.

2. (of a language) Spoken by a large number of people.
   • 1974, Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman, Nina M. Hyams, An Introduction to Language ?ISBN, page 524:

     The Sino-Tibetan family includes Mandarin, the most populous language in the world, spoken by more than one billion Chinese.

3. Densely populated.

4. Crowded with people.

Usage notes

• Do not confuse populace (a noun) with populous (an adjective).

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle French impenetrable, from Latin impenetrabilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?p?n?t??b?l/, /?m?p?n?t??b?l/
• Hyphenation: im?pen?e?tra?ble

Adjective

impenetrable (not comparable)

1. Not penetrable.

   The fortress is impenetrable, so it cannot be taken.

   • The avalanche spread and stopped, locking everything it carried into an icy cocoon. It was now a jagged, virtually impenetrable pile of ice, longer than a football field and nearly as wide.

2. (figuratively) Incomprehensible; fathomless; inscrutable.

   Business jargon makes this document impenetrable, I can't understand it.

3. Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.

   When night falls, she cloaks the world in impenetrable darkness.

Synonyms

• (not penetrable): impregnable, unfathomable
• (incomprehensible): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

Antonyms

• (not penetrable): penetrable, pregnable, fathomable
• (incomprehensible): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin impenetr?bilis.

Adjective

impenetrable (masculine and feminine plural impenetrables)

1. impenetrable

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin impenetr?bilis.

Adjective

impenetrable (plural impenetrables)

1. impenetrable

Further reading

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