Irrelevant

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪˈɹɛl.ə.vənt/

Definitions

1. Not applicable or pertinent to the topic in question
2. Lacking a relationship or connection to the issue being addressed
3. Having no bearing on the subject being discussed

Etymology: "Irrelevant" is built from two parts: the Latin prefix "ir-", a form of "in-" meaning "not" that takes the "r" sound before words beginning with "r", and "relevant," which came into English from the Medieval Latin verb "relevare," meaning "to raise up" or "to lighten." The negative prefix is the same one found in "irregular" and "irrational," so the word is simply "not relevant" with nothing hidden in its structure. The English adjective "relevant" was the one that did the real semantic work. Its original sense leaned toward legal and logical argument: something was relevant if it bore on the matter in hand. The idea of connection or bearing on a question is what "irrelevant" negates, so a remark that has no bearing on the topic is cut off from the subject just as a weight is lifted from a scale.

Synonyms: unrelated, immaterial, inapplicable, extraneous, beside the point

Antonyms: relevant, pertinent, applicable, connected, appropriate