Definition of IMMUTABLE

Other Words from immutable

immutability \ (ˌ)i(m)-ˌmyü-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

immutableness \ (ˌ)i(m)-ˈmyü-tə-bəl-nəs

\ noun

immutably \ (ˌ)i(m)-ˈmyü-tə-blē

\ adverb

Did You Know?

Immutable comes to us through Middle English from Latin immutabilis, meaning "unable to change." "Immutabilis" was formed by combining the negative prefix in- with "mutabilis," which comes from the Latin verb mutare and means "to change." Some other English words that can be traced back to "mutare" are "commute" (the earliest sense of which is simply "to change or alter"), "mutate" ("to undergo significant and basic alteration"), "permute" ("to change the order or arrangement of"), and "transmute" ("to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature"). There's also the antonym of "immutable" - "mutable" - which of course can mean "prone to change" and "capable of change or of being changed."

Examples of immutable in a Sentence

the immutable laws of nature one of the immutable laws of television is that low ratings inevitably lead to cancellation

Recent Examples on the Web

For centuries this historic institution has managed to stay relevant while also appearing immutable. — Juliet Rieden, Town & Country, "How Queen Elizabeth Will Pass the Torch to Prince Charles and the Rest of the Royal Family in 2019," 5 Jan. 2019 In theory, a blockchain is immutable and would take the role of critical infrastructure, but this idea requires intensive testing before it can be trusted in the wild. — Frederic Kerrest, Fortune, "Commentary: How Blockchain Could Put an End to Identity Theft," 20 Apr. 2018 These higher speeds demanded ever more power thanks to immutable laws of physics; drag (air resistance) increases as the square of speed. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "Bloodhound SSC: How do you build a car capable of 1,000mph?," 24 Nov. 2018 Things that seemed immutable are eventually revealed to be as easily displaced as the shifting sands of a beach dune. — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, "What we lost when we lost Blockbuster Video," 29 Aug. 2018 Blockchain tech, meanwhile, is made to be an immutable, secure, and speedy way to transfer data. — Lucinda Shen, Fortune, "Congress Wants to Use Blockchain Tech to Make the Government ‘More Efficient’," 16 Mar. 2018 Because while the league around him turned, LeBron sat at its center, perfectly immutable, less a superstar than a sun. — Rob Mahoney, SI.com, "LeBron James Defies Logic and the NBA Life Cycle," 28 May 2018 Another advantage is the stories will be hard to wipe off the Internet, as often happens when a media firm goes bankrupt, because the article are hosted on an immutable blockchain. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Blockchain Media Firm Civil Launches an Ambitious Studio to Build an 'Open Marketplace for Journalists'," 2 May 2018 England and Croatia are teams that innovated over time but have generally been immutable during the World Cup, sticking to virtually identical starting lineups except for group phase finales, after advancement was secure. — Ronald Blum, BostonGlobe.com, "England ready to change the tune of its soccer history," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'immutable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.