indivisible

English

Etymology

PIE word
*dwóh₁

From Middle French indivisible, from Late Latin indivisibilis. Equivalent to in- +‎ divisible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪndɪˈvɪzɪbəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪzɪbəl

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

indivisible (not comparable)

1. Incapable of being divided; atomic.
   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     one indivisible point of time

   • 2014 [2013 June 13], Xi Jinping, “Handle Cross-Straits Relations in the Overall Interests of the Chinese Nation”, in The Governance of China‎^[1], volume I, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page [2]:

     Although the mainland and Taiwan are yet to be reunited, they belong to one and same China, which is an indivisible whole.

2. (arithmetic) Incapable of being divided by a specific integer without leaving a remainder.

Synonyms

• unsplittable

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “incapable of being divided; arithmetic”): divisible
• (antonym(s) of “incapable of being combined”): incombinable, uncombinable, unmergeable, ununifiable

Related terms

• indivision
• indivisibility
• indivisibleness
• indivisibly
• individual

Translations

incapable of being divided

• Bulgarian: неделим (bg) (nedelim)
• Catalan: indivisible (ca), indivís
• Dutch: ondeelbaar (nl)
• Finnish: jakamaton (fi)
• German: unteilbar (de)
• Greek: αδιαίρετος (el) (adiaíretos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀμέριστος (améristos), ἀμερής (amerḗs)

• Hindi: अभाज्य (abhājya), अभेद्य (hi) (abhedya)
• Hungarian: oszthatatlan (hu)
• Icelandic: ódeilanlegur (is) m
• Irish: doroinnte
• Italian: indivisible (it)
• Japanese: 分割できない (ja) (bunkatsu dekinai), 分けられない (ja) (wakerarenai), 割れない (ja) (warenai) 不可分の (ja) (fukabun no)
• Khmer: អវិភាគីយ (a’vi’pʰiekii)
• Old English: untōdǣledlīċ
• Portuguese: indivisível (pt)
• Russian: недели́мый (ru) (nedelímyj), нераздели́мый (ru) (nerazdelímyj), неразложи́мый (ru) (nerazložímyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: do-roinn
• Spanish: indivisible, indiviso (es)
• Swedish: odelbar (sv)
• Welsh: diwahân, anwahanadwy (cy)

incapable of being divided by a specific integer

• Bulgarian: неделим (bg) (nedelim)
• Catalan: indivís
• Finnish: jaoton
• French: indivisible (fr)
• German: unteilbar (de)
• Hindi: अभाज्य (abhājya)
• Hungarian: nem osztható
• Icelandic: ódeilanlegur (is) m
• Japanese: 割り切れない (warikirenai)
• Polish: niepodzielny (pl)
• Russian: недели́мый (ru) (nedelímyj)
• Swedish: odelbar (sv)

Noun

indivisible (plural indivisibles)

1. That which cannot be divided or split.
   • 1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC:

     By atom, nobody will imagine we intend to express a perfect indivisible, but only the least sort of natural bodies.

   • 1661, Joseph Glanvill, chapter V, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, page 53:

     The compoſition of Bodies, whether it be of Diviſibles or Indiviſibles, is a queſtion which must be rank'd with the Indiſſolvibles: For though it hath been attempted by the moſt illuſtrious Wits of all Philoſophick Ages; yet they have done little elſe, but ſhewn their own diviſions to be almoſt as infinite, as ſome ſuppoſe thoſe of their Subject.

2. (geometry) An infinitely small quantity which is assumed to admit of no further division.

Derived terms

• method of indivisibles

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin indivisibilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ divisible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.di.vi.zibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Adjective

indivisible (plural indivisibles)

1. indivisible

   Antonym: divisible

Derived terms

• indivisibilité

Related terms

• indivis

Further reading

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

Middle French

Adjective

indivisible m or f (plural indivisibles)

1. indivisible

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin indivisibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /indibiˈsible/ [ĩn̪.d̪i.β̞iˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: in‧di‧vi‧si‧ble

Adjective

indivisible m or f (masculine and feminine plural indivisibles)

1. indivisible

   Antonyms: divisible, incombinable

Derived terms

• indivisibilidad

Further reading

• “indivisible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025