Irrecuperable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Unable to be recovered, restored, or brought back to a former state
2. Not capable of being regained or repaired after loss or damage
3. Incapable of returning to a useful or original condition once lost or harmed

Etymology: "Irrecuperable" is built from "recuperable," itself a borrowing of the Latin "recuperare," meaning "to recover or get back." Its ancestor "recuperare" joins "re-" (back, again) with "capere" (to take), so the core idea is taking something back. The word came into English through Middle English, passing from Old French, where the same family of terms was already used for things that could be recovered. The prefix "in-" carries the negation: "irrecuperable" is the "not" form of "recuperable," so it describes a loss that cannot be taken back. English has many such pairs in which the "in-" or "ir-" form was added to a borrowed Latinate adjective, and this one follows the same pattern, drawing its sense from the core verb meaning to get back.

Synonyms: irretrievable, irrecoverable, lost

Antonyms: recoverable, salvageable