- Today's Word
Inviolable
in-VY-uh-luh-bul
Definition
(adjective) Too important to be violated or compromised; secure from any assault or infringement.
Example
The organization had one inviolable rule — sources were never identified, under any circumstances, regardless of who was asking or what they were offering.
Word Origin
Inviolable derives from the Latin inviolabilis, meaning “that cannot be harmed” — built from in- (“not”) and violabilis (“able to be violated”), from violare (“to violate” or “to dishonor”), itself from vis meaning “force.” The same root gives us violate, violent, and inviolate — all words built around the idea of force applied against something that should be protected. It entered English in the 15th century, used in legal and religious contexts to describe rights, oaths, and sanctuaries that existed beyond the reach of ordinary power.
Fun Fact
The concept of inviolable sanctuary has ancient roots across virtually every human culture. In ancient Greece, the asylia — the right of sanctuary in a temple — was considered genuinely inviolable; armies that violated it risked divine punishment severe enough that many commanders refused to breach temple grounds even at significant military cost. In medieval Europe, the Church extended similar protections to anyone who reached consecrated ground. The modern concept of diplomatic immunity is a direct legal descendant of these ancient inviolable protections — the idea that certain persons and places exist in a category that force simply cannot legitimately reach.