Nonrecoverable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Unable to be regained after a loss occurs Denoting items or assets that cannot be restored after they have been diminished or compromised Related to resources that are irretrievable once impacted or utilized
2. Impossible to restore or regain once lost or damaged
3. Unable to be retrieved or restored after suffering loss or depletion

Etymology: The word is a plain English compound, built from the prefix "non-" and "recoverable," with no hidden story behind it. The prefix comes from Old English "nān," meaning "not one" or "none," which contracted into Middle English "non-" and was then used freely to negate adjectives. "Recoverable" itself descends from the verb "recover," which entered English from Old French "recouvrer" and Latin "recuperare," meaning to get back again. Put together, "nonrecoverable" describes something that cannot be gotten back, whether a sum of money, a damaged system, or a lost resource. Its meaning follows the logic of its parts: the prefix turns the sense of "recoverable" into its opposite. Because the negation is added to an existing adjective rather than a root, the word has the flexible, ready-made quality typical of English technical and legal vocabulary, where writers often need to say precisely that something is beyond restoration.

Synonyms: irretrievable, lost, irrecoverable

Antonyms: recoverable, salvageable