insoluble

English

Etymology

From Middle English insolible, from Middle French insoluble, from Latin insolūbilis, from in- +‎ solūbilis. Equivalent to in- +‎ soluble. Piecewise doublet of insolvable and unsolvable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɒljʊbəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɑljəbəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

insoluble (comparative more insoluble, superlative most insoluble)

1. (physical chemistry) That cannot be dissolved.

   Synonyms: indissoluble, undissolvable

   Antonyms: soluble, dissoluble, dissolvable

   Petroleum is largely insoluble in water.

2. That cannot be solved.

   Synonyms: insolvable, unsolvable

   Antonyms: soluble, solvable

   • 2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, p. 3

     The reason Fisher concluded that the problem is likely insoluble is that the ability of real-world agents to act on new perceived opportunities of arbitrage – including those that turn out to be incorrect – makes stability impossible to demonstrate without additional strong (and unrealistic) assumptions.

3. That cannot be explained.

   Synonyms: inexplicable, unexplainable

   Antonyms: soluble, solvable

   Near-synonyms: unexplained, mysterious; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible, Thesaurus:mysterious

4. That cannot be broken down or dispersed.

   Synonyms: indissoluble, undissolvable

   Antonyms: soluble, dissoluble, dissolvable

Derived terms

• insolubility
• insolubilize
• insolubleness
• insolubly

 

Translations

not soluble; that cannot be dissolved

• Armenian: անլուծելի (hy) (anluceli), չլուծվող (čʻlucvoġ)
• Bulgarian: неразтворим (bg) (neraztvorim)
• Catalan: insoluble (ca)
• Czech: nerozpustný (cs)
• Dutch: onoplosbaar (nl)
• Finnish: liukenematon (fi)
• German: unlösbar (de)
• Italian: insolubile (it)
• Japanese: 溶けない (ja) (tokenai), 不溶の (ja) (fuyō no)
• Macedonian: нерастворлив (nerastvorliv)
• Maori: mehakore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uløselig

• Polish: nierozpuszczalny (pl)
• Portuguese: insolúvel (pt)
• Romanian: insolubil (ro)
• Spanish: insoluble (es)
• Swedish: olöslig (sv)
• Tagalog: dilusawin
• Welsh: anhydawdd (cy)

not solvable; that cannot be solved

• Armenian: անլուծելի (hy) (anluceli)
• Bulgarian: нерешим (nerešim)
• Catalan: insoluble (ca)
• Czech: neřešitelný (cs)
• Dutch: onoplosbaar (nl)
• Finnish: ratkeamaton, ratkaisematon (fi)
• German: unlösbar (de)
• Greek: αξεδιάλυτος (el) (axediálytos)
• Italian: insolubile (it)
• Japanese: 解けない (ja) (tokenai), 割り切れない (warikirenai), 不可解な (ja) (fukakai na)
• Macedonian: нерешлив (nerešliv)

not explainable

• Armenian: անբացատրելի (hy) (anbacʻatreli)
• Bulgarian: необясним (bg) (neobjasnim)
• Dutch: onverklaarbaar (nl)
• Finnish: selittämätön
• German: unerklärlich (de)
• Italian: inspiegabile (it)
• Japanese: 解けない (ja) (tokenai), 割り切れない (warikirenai), 不可解な (ja) (fukakai na)
• Macedonian: необјаснив (neobjasniv)

Noun

insoluble (plural insolubles)

1. Any substance that cannot be dissolved.
   • 2006, Ashok Pandey, Enzyme Technology, page 518:

     As there is a partial vacuum inside the drum, the liquid is sucked inside the drum and the insolubles are deposited on the outer surface of the membrane filter.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnsolūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [in.suˈlub.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.soˈlu.ble]

Adjective

insoluble m or f (masculine and feminine plural insolubles)

1. insoluble
2. unsolvable

Further reading

• “insoluble” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “insoluble”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “insoluble” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “insoluble” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin īnsolūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.sɔ.lybl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

insoluble (plural insolubles)

1. (chemistry) insoluble

   Antonym: soluble

2. insoluble

   Antonym: soluble

   une énigme insoluble ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   un problème insoluble ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Related terms

• insolvable

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin īnsolūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insoˈluble/ [ĩn.soˈlu.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -uble
• Syllabification: in‧so‧lu‧ble

Adjective

insoluble m or f (masculine and feminine plural insolubles)

1. insoluble
2. unsolvable

Further reading

• “insoluble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28