Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective That cannot be transferred to another or others.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Incapable of being alienated or transferred to another; that cannot or should not be transferred or given up.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred to another; not alienable.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred to another; not alienable.
  • adjective grammar Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another
  • adjective not subject to forfeiture

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed around 1645 from French inaliénable, from in- +‎ aliénable ("alienable").

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Examples

  • He thinks the relative silence on God/religion in the Constitution is over-ridden by the Declaration of Independence (because it contains the phrase "inalienable rights endowed by the creator") and he thinks the First Amendment religion clauses apply only to Christians and Jews (and maybe, but probably not, Muslims).

    Julie Ingersoll: Gitmo And Hypocrisy: Selectively Living By The Intentions Of The Founders And The Bible Julie Ingersoll 2012

  • The original idea behind the phrase "inalienable rights" was that rights are inalienable because they are correlative to duties and responsibilities that exist objectively and transcend the will, and that we are therefore not allowed to shirk.

    Rand and "Inalienable Rights" Greg Forster 2011

  • This was a point of central importance – for some purposes it was the point of central importance – in the political philosophies behind the Glorious Revolution and the American Revolution, from which the phrase "inalienable rights" historically sprang.

    Rand and "Inalienable Rights" Greg Forster 2011

  • He thinks the relative silence on God/religion in the Constitution is over-ridden by the Declaration of Independence (because it contains the phrase "inalienable rights endowed by the creator") and he thinks the First Amendment religion clauses apply only to Christians and Jews (and maybe, but probably not, Muslims).

    Julie Ingersoll: Gitmo And Hypocrisy: Selectively Living By The Intentions Of The Founders And The Bible Julie Ingersoll 2012

  • He thinks the relative silence on God/religion in the Constitution is over-ridden by the Declaration of Independence (because it contains the phrase "inalienable rights endowed by the creator") and he thinks the First Amendment religion clauses apply only to Christians and Jews (and maybe, but probably not, Muslims).

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Julie Ingersoll 2012

  • He said Moscow supported and will support what he described as the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in east Jerusalem.

    Russian President Visits West Bank 2011

  • The word "inalienable" was inserted to deny this, and the only possible justification for it is the existence of transcendent duties.

    Rand and "Inalienable Rights" Greg Forster 2011

  • He said Moscow supported and will support what he described as the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in east Jerusalem.

    Russian President Visits West Bank 2011

  • Some earlier drafts used the word "inalienable," which is the term our modern dictionaries prefer.

    Top News Digg 2011

  • Mrs Tollefsen holds aloft her adorable 22-month-old first IVF baby, Freya, as proof of what she calls her inalienable 'right to be a mum', whatever her age.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

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