Inorganical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Composed of or derived from non-living substances such as minerals, metals, or chemical compounds rather than from organisms or their remains
2. Relating to or containing matter that does not originate from living things, including all substances that are not organic in nature
3. Made up of elements and compounds that lack the carbon-hydrogen bonds characteristic of living or formerly living material

Etymology: Ancient Greek "organon" meant a tool or instrument, and the adjective "organikos" meant "relating to instruments" or "useful for work." Over centuries, the sense narrowed to the parts of a living body, and "organic" came to mean "of living things." So "inorganical" literally means "not of living things" by way of an older sense of "organ" as a tool. The word is built from the Latin prefix "in-", meaning "not," attached to "organical," itself an older adjective form of "organic." It is a variant of the more common "inorganic," and the extra "-al" ending is the same adjective suffix found in pairs like "historic" and "historical." Both forms describe substances, like minerals, that do not come from living matter.

Synonyms: inorganic

Antonyms: organic