Incurability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The characteristic of a condition that is resistant to any form of treatment signifies that it cannot be cured or healed
2. It refers to the quality of a medical state where recovery is not achievable through conventional means
3. The quality of being unable to be cured points to a medical condition that resists treatment and cannot be reversed or healed

Etymology: "Incurability" is a plain formation: the adjective "incurable" with the suffix "-ity" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective itself is built from the prefix "in-" meaning "not" and "curable," which traces back through Old French to Latin "curare," "to take care of, to heal," the same root that gives English "cure." So the noun names the state of being beyond cure, in the same way "fragility" names the state of being fragile. The suffix "-ity" arrived in English through Old French and Latin, where it was attached to adjectives to form abstract nouns of quality, and English speakers have used it freely ever since. Its pattern is why "incurability" can be formed from almost any adjective ending in "-able" or "-ible" without needing its own dictionary entry first.

Synonyms: chronic condition, terminality

Antonyms: curability