English
inviolable
Inviolable comes from Latin inviolābilis ‘untouchable’, and goes back to violō ‘violate’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolō1‘violate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinviolābilis1‘untouchable’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inviolable1
- Englishearliest quotation 1667inviolable1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English inviolable
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IV: “But come, for thou, be ſure, ſhalt give account…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolōWiktionary, English inviolable‘violate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinviolābilisWiktionary, English inviolable‘untouchable’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inviolableWiktionary, English inviolable
- Englishearliest quotation 1667inviolableWiktionary, English inviolable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book IV: “But come, for thou, be ſure, ſhalt give account…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to rush’
previous, obvious, virtual, voyage, virtue, convey, trivial, inevitable, trivia, envoy, deviation, virtuous, venison, deviant, wer, virtuoso, ochre, viaduct, virility, virile, trivium, virago, obviate, 51 more
through Proto-Italic *wīs ‘strength, force, power’
vengeance, avenge, vindication, 9 more
through Latin vīs ‘strength’
through Latin violō ‘violate’
Today it means
adj Not violable; not to be infringed.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “inviolable”. 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 / Latin violō / inviolable