Unlendable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Incapable of being loaned or lent to another person; not suitable or fit for being temporarily given out to someone else; unable to be shared for use beyond the original owner
2. Not possible to be borrowed or transferred temporarily to another party; lacking qualities that permit granting someone else temporary possession; restricted from being made available on a loan basis
3. Describing something that cannot be offered for temporary use by others; failing to meet conditions required to be lent; unsuitable for lending purposes under any circumstance

Etymology: "Unlendable" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not," attached to "lendable," which is itself "lend" plus the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." Put together, the word describes something that cannot be lent out. Its parts are all Old English or older Germanic in origin for "lend" and "un-," with "-able" arriving through Old French from Latin "-abilis," so the word is a mixed compound of native and borrowed elements. The useful lesson here is how readily English builds such words on demand. Speakers can form "unlendable" whenever they need to describe an object, book, or tool that should not leave the owner's hands, and listeners understand it immediately without it ever appearing in a dictionary of common usage. Its meaning follows directly from its parts, with no shift from an earlier sense.

Synonyms: nonlending, not loanable

Antonyms: lendable, loanable