Uncomputable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A problem or function that cannot be solved or calculated by any algorithm or computer, regardless of time or memory constraints
2. A term describing a problem or mathematical function that cannot be resolved by any computational method or machine, no matter the available resources or time
3. Referring to an issue or mathematical computation that is impossible to determine by any algorithm or computational device, irrespective of time limits or storage capacity

Etymology: "Uncomputable" is simply the English prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "computable," which describes something that can be calculated or worked out. The combination produces a sense of "not able to be computed," and the word's meaning follows directly from its parts: a problem that no procedure, however powerful or patient, can solve. The word's significance lies less in its construction than in the idea it names. Mathematicians and logicians came to treat the limits of computation as a serious question, and a function that no algorithm can evaluate became a precise object of study rather than a vague complaint. The prefix does the logical work here, turning the familiar notion of computability into its negation.

Synonyms: incomputable, indeterminate, unmeasurable

Antonyms: computable, measurable, determinable