inalienable

American  

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

adjective

1. not transferable to another or not capable of being taken away or denied; not alienable.

   inalienable rights, freedoms, and liberties; an inalienable territory; inalienable principles and values.

   Synonyms:

   inherent, unassailable, absolute, inviolable

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inalienable British  

/ ɪnˈeɪljənəbəl /

adjective

1. not able to be transferred to another; not alienable

   the inalienable rights of the citizen

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Usage

What does inalienable mean? Inalienable describes 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.Alienable is a word, but it’s rarely used. It means able to be sold or transferred.Example: We work to make the founders’ words true—that everyone has the inalienable right to freedom.

Other Word Forms

• inalienability noun
• inalienableness noun
• inalienably adverb

Etymology

Origin of inalienable

First recorded in 1610–20; in- ³ + alienable

Example Sentences

“Each nation has the inalienable right to decide its political, economic, and social model, free from external pressure.”

From Los Angeles Times

But the auction was cancelled after the Indian Ministry of Culture issued a legal order calling the jewels the "inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community".

From Barron's

The Constitutional Court said the Nama had an inalienable right to their ancestral land and the rights to the minerals there.

From BBC

“Receiving food is an inalienable right. You’re born on Earth, there’s enough food here to feed everyone. It’s a distribution problem,” Ms Miller says.

From BBC

"An inalienable right should not be made conditional," the report adds.

From BBC