invisible

Etymology

From Middle English invisible, from Old French invisible, from Late Latin invīsibilis. Displaced native Old English unġesewenlīċ.

Morphologically in- +‎ visible.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭn-vĭz'ə-bəl, IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

invisible (not comparable)

1. Unable to be seen; out of sight; not visible.

   Synonyms: unseeable, (archaic) unvisible

   Antonyms: apparent, visible

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Unſpeakable, who ſitſt above theſe Heavens / To us inviſible or dimly ſeen / In theſe thy loweſt works, […]

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 58–59:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. […] Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 163:

     An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.

   • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:

     Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

   • 2013, Jayne Smith, Guide to Basic Garment Assembly for the Fashion Industry, page 60:

     The teeth on an invisible zip are different from those on a conventional zip, as they are turned onto the inside so that they do not show, giving the impression of being concealed in the seam, as seen below.

   • 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:

     Soon after departure, we cross the invisible border into Scotland to enjoy more stunning coastal scenery, before the line finally swings inland at Burnmouth to traverse pine-clad valleys, shadowed by the A1 trunk road until we rejoin the coast at Cove, east of Dunbar.

2. Not appearing on the surface.

   Synonyms: (colloquial) invis, hidden, latent

   • 2024, Katherine Aron-Beller, chapter 6, in Christian Images and Their Jewish Desecrators: The History of an Allegation, 400–1700‎, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 261:

     The physical covering of this image limited the Christians’ view, rendering the image invisible on all but a few occasions.

3. (Internet) Apparently, but not actually, offline.

   I went invisible so that my ex-girlfriend wouldn't send me instant messages.

4. (psychology) That is ignored by a person.

Verb

invisible (third-person singular simple present invisibles, present participle invisibling, simple past and past participle invisibled)

1. To make invisible, to invisiblize.
   • 2007, Rachael Davenhill, Looking into Later Life:

     In the next section I look at some of the factors that contribute to the “invisibling” of people in later life in terms of the marginalization and splitting that occurs in providing decent psychological as well as physical care.

Noun

invisible (plural invisibles)

1. (obsolete) An invisible person or thing; specifically, God, the Supreme Being.
2. (obsolete) A Rosicrucian; so called because avoiding declaration of his craft.
3. (obsolete) One of those (as in the 16th century) who denied the visibility of the church.
   • 1872, Orby Shipley, A Glossary of Ecclesiastical Terms:

     Invisibles. Heretics who denied the visibility of the Church

Etymology

From Late Latin invīsibilis.

Adjective

invisible (epicene, plural invisibles)

1. invisible (unable to be seen)

Etymology

From Late Latin invīsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [im.biˈzib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [iɱ.viˈzib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iɱ.viˈzi.ble]

Adjective

invisible m or f (masculine and feminine plural invisibles)

1. invisible

   Antonym: visible

Etymology

From Late Latin invīsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.vi.zibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

invisible (plural invisibles)

1. invisible (unable to be seen)

   Antonym: visible

2. invisible (not appearing on the surface)

   Synonym: caché

   Antonym: visible

Further reading

• “invisible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Alternative forms

• invisíbel

Etymology

From Late Latin invīsibilis.

Adjective

invisible m or f (plural invisibles)

1. invisible

   Antonym: visible

Etymology

First recorded in the 13th century. Borrowed from Late Latin invīsibilis.

Adjective

invisible m (oblique and nominative feminine singular invisible)

1. invisible (not able to be seen)

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (invisible, supplement)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin invīsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imbiˈsible/ [ĩm.biˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: in‧vi‧si‧ble

Adjective

invisible m or f (masculine and feminine plural invisibles)

1. invisible

   Antonym: visible

Further reading

• “invisible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10