Inoperable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Unable to be operated or put into functioning condition ; not able to be cured or effectively treated by medical intervention
2. Incapable of being worked or used for its intended purpose ; describing a condition that cannot be healed or reversed
3. Not functional or capable of being run ; referring to an illness or problem that cannot be corrected or remedied

Etymology: "Inoperable" is a plain construction: the prefix "in-", meaning "not", attached to "operable," which means capable of being operated or worked. The prefix comes from Latin "in-", and the base descends from Latin "operābilis," built from "operārī," "to work," itself from "opus," "work." The word arrived in English through Middle English and English, and its meaning split into two strands. In the first, something inoperable is simply not functional or cannot be run, such as a broken machine or a system that will not work. In the second, which is most common in medicine, it describes an illness or problem that cannot be corrected or remedied, usually because surgery would be too risky or could not reach the problem. The two senses share the same logic: "in-" removes the capacity to be worked on, whether the thing in question is a device or a diseased body.

Synonyms: nonfunctional, unworkable, irreparable, incurable, useless

Antonyms: operable, functional, repairable, curable, usable