Etymograph

English

inscrutable

Inscrutable comes from Late Latin īnscrūtābilis, and goes back to scrūtor ‘to examine’.

  1. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEscrūtor1as scrūtō‘to examine’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEīnscrūtābilis1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1852inscrutable1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English inscrutable
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1852, Herman Melville, Book XXIV. Lucy at the Apostles’.: “The pale, inscrutable determinateness, and flinchless intrepidity of Pierre,…”.

Lineage

  1. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEscrūtorWiktionary, English inscrutableas scrūtō‘to examine’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEīnscrūtābilisWiktionary, English inscrutable
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1852inscrutableWiktionary, English inscrutable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1852, Herman Melville, Book XXIV. Lucy at the Apostles’.: “The pale, inscrutable determinateness, and flinchless intrepidity of Pierre,…”

Linked words

through Late Latin scrūtor ‘to examine’

scrutiny, 3 more

Today it means

adj Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “inscrutable”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Late Latin scrūtor / inscrutable

Shirt and support for this word