Ineluctable, meaning inescapable, is one of those words Martha has to look up in the dictionary every time she sees it. But noting its Latin origin, luctari, meaning “to struggle,” and therefore related to reluctant, will help. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Ineluctable”
I still have a list of words that I have to look up every single time I run across them.
And the most recent one was ineluctable.
Ineluctable.
Yes.
Related to reluctant somehow.
Oh, well that was my point.
Oh.
I never made that connection.
But I have this resolution for this year that any time I run across a word like that, I’m going to look it up once and for all, and I’m really going to pay attention to the etymology.
And indeed, ineluctable goes back to Latin luctare, meaning to struggle.
And so ineluctable has to do with not being able to be avoided.
It’s inevitable, inescapable.
And as you suggested, the same root having to do with struggle is in the word reluctant.
And that’s how I’m going to remember it.
That’s interesting.
So how do you remember?
Do you repeat it to yourself, write it down a bunch of times, put it on index cards, tape it to the bathroom mirror?
I mean, what’s your strategy for remembering these words when you look them up?
Because I know from my dictionary work that one of the most common things that happens to people is they look up a word and 30 seconds later cannot tell you what the definition was.
Oh, right, right.
I mean, this is universal.
Right.
Well, that’s why I’m paying really close attention to the etymology, because so often the etymology is this vivid picture of something.
Gotcha.
That’s your demonic.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I’m thinking of ineluctable, meaning something that, you know, you can’t struggle out of.
Ineluctable.
Yeah.
I mean, it makes perfect sense if you think about it.
It sure does.
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