inanimate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective belonging to the class of nouns denoting nonliving things
  2. adjective not endowed with life
  3. adjective appearing dead; not breathing or having no perceptible pulse

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English inanimat(e), from Late Latin inanimātus, from Latin in- + animātus (“animated”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, in- + animate. The noun was derived by substantivization from the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

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