Definition of inalienable
:incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred
- inalienable rights
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Recent Examples of inalienable from the Web
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Griffin, who made her career by mocking celebrities, is not the most likely comedian to be martyred over the inalienable right to criticize the president.
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Case in point: NPR decided to tweet out the Declaration of Independence, and some sad folks didn’t recognize the brilliant blueprint for our inalienable rights.
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Before any of those festivities got underway, hundreds gathered at Worthy Park (adjacent to Huntington Beach High School) to exercise their inalienable rights.
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The majority should never be able to deprive the minority of their inalienable rights.
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As advocates have been arguing for decades, anyone else's opinions about other people's inalienable rights don't matter.
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To ride the train home without being assaulted because of the color of your skin or your religious beliefs, is an inalienable right.
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A day of remembrance and appreciation for ALL who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our inalienable rights #
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Life is the first inalienable right, a natural right listed in our Declaration of Independence.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inalienable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Alien, "alienable," "inalienable" - it's easy enough to see the Latin word alius, meaning "other," at the root of these three words. "Alien" joined our language in the 14th century, and one of its earliest meanings was "belonging to another." By the early 1600s that sense of "alien" had led to the development of "alienable," an adjective describing something you could give away or transfer ownership of, and "unalienable," its opposite. By about 1645, "inalienable" was also in use as a synonym of "unalienable." "Inalienable" is the more common variant today, but it was "unalienable" that was used in the Declaration of Independence to describe rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Origin and Etymology of inalienable
probably from French inaliénable, from in- + aliénable alienable
Other Legal Terms
INALIENABLE Defined for English Language Learners
inalienable
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adjective
Definition of inalienable for English Language Learners
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: impossible to take away or give up
INALIENABLE Defined for Kids
inalienable
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adjective
in·alien·able
\
i-ˈnāl-yə-nə-bəl
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Definition of inalienable for Students
:impossible to take away or give up
- Our citizens have certain inalienable rights.
Law Dictionary
Learn More about inalienable
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Spanish Central: Translation of inalienable Nglish: Translation of inalienable for Spanish speakers
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