inert
pronunciation
How to pronounce inert in British English:
UK [ɪˈnɜːt]
How to pronounce inert in American English:
US [ɪˈnɜːrt]
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- Adjective:
- unable to move or resist motion
- having only a limited ability to react chemically; not active
- slow and apathetic
Word Origin
- inert
- inert: [17] The -ert of inert is the same word as art. The word comes from Latin iners, which originally meant ‘unskilled’, but soon developed semantically to ‘inactive’. It was formed with the negative prefix in- from ars ‘skill’, source of English art. The derivative inertia [18] is a Latin formation. In classical times it meant simply ‘lack of skill, idleness’; it was Johannes Kepler who first used it as a technical term in physics in the 17th century.=> art, inertia
- inert (adj.)
- 1640s, from French inerte (16c.) or directly from Latin inertem (nominative iners) "unskilled, inactive, helpless, sluggish, worthless," from in- "without" + ars (genitive artis) "skill" (see art (n.)). Originally of matter; specifically of gases from 1885. Of persons or creatures, from 1774.
Example
- 1. Farmland has until recently been a largely inert asset .
- 2. As a living system , its inert , mechanistic parts are part of its life .
- 3. His fingers drum compulsively on the bed of an inert child beside him : a five-year-old girl with the breasts of a grown woman .
- 4. Inert gases can extend the life of opened bottles up to roughly five days , depending on the type of wine .
- 5. Insulate it and the rest of your house . Put in double-pane windows filled with inert gas .