alienable

American  

[eyl-yuh-nuh-buhl, ey-lee-uh-] / ˈeɪl yə nə bəl, ˈeɪ li ə- /

adjective

Law.

1. capable of being sold or transferred.

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alienable British  

/ ˈeɪlɪə-, ˈeɪljənəbəl /

adjective

1. law (of property) transferable to another owner

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Usage

What does alienable mean? Yes, alienable is a word, but it’s rarely used. It means able to be sold or transferred. It’s opposite, inalienable, is much more common. Inalienable is used to describe things, especially rights, that cannot be taken away, denied, or transferred to another person. Inalienable means the same thing as unalienable, which is no longer in common use. However, unalienable is closely associated with the phrase unalienable rights due to its appearance in the U. S. Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”Thomas Jefferson actually used inalienable in early drafts of the Declaration of Independence, but the spelling was changed for the final draft. Unalienable was the preferred spelling until around the 1830s, but inalienable has completely replaced it in regular use. Example: We work to make the founders’ words true—that human rights are in no way alienable.

Other Word Forms

• alienability noun

Etymology

Origin of alienable

1605–15; < French, Middle French aliė́nable from aliė́ner “to sell, transfer” from Latin aliēnāre “to transfer by sale” ( see alien) + -able

Example Sentences

A man's character, it will be argued, is an alienable personal possession.

From Determinism or Free-Will? by Cohen, Chapman

The tenure of serfs did not become alienable, and only became hereditary by certain devices.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 8 "France" to "Francis Joseph I." by Various

Besides a pocket-handkerchief he had but one thing alienable.

From A Rough Shaking by MacDonald, George

There is no denial here of alienable rights and duties.

From "Colony,"--or "Free State"? "Dependence,"--or "Just Connection"? "Empire,"--or "Union"? by Snow, Alpheus Henry

Thus in the latter part of the 18th century the doctrine that man has some individual rights by nature, not by grant or prescription, and not alienable, obtained official recognition in two great nations.

From Concerning Justice by Emery, Lucilius A.