What does incondensable mean?
Incondensable describes something that cannot be condensed. Its principal technical use concerns a gas that cannot be liquefied by applying pressure alone, although extreme cooling may still make it liquid. The word may also be used figuratively to describe a complex argument, body of knowledge, or set of concerns that resists compression into a brief account. Such figurative uses are uncommon and more rhetorical than necessary in everyday speech, so noncondensable or simply impossible to summarize may sound more natural. The term is related in meaning to incompressible, but incondensable emphasizes the process of condensation rather than resistance to any reduction in volume. It is chiefly found in formal, scientific, and literary writing.
Incapable of being condensed, especially unable to be liquefied by pressure alone.
"The laboratory studied the behavior of incondensable gases under extreme pressure."
Chiefly technical and now uncommon; noncondensable is more common in modern scientific writing.
Too complex or expansive to be reduced to a concise form.
"The committee concluded that the issue was too sensitive and incondensable to summarize responsibly."
A formal figurative use that is relatively uncommon.
Some gases refuse to become liquid no matter how hard they are squeezed; they are incondensable by pressure alone.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does incondensable come from?
The word was formed in English from the negative prefix in- and condensable, with the overall sense “not able to be condensed.” Its elements ultimately derive from Latin condensare, meaning “to pack densely,” which is also the source of condense, condensation, condensate, and dense. The prefix changes the technical concept from a substance that can be condensed into one that cannot undergo that process under the stated conditions.
Related word forms
How incondensable is actually used
This is an uncommon word, encountered chiefly in technical writing about gases and fluids and occasionally in formal figurative use. In modern technical contexts, noncondensable is often clearer and more familiar.
Easily confused with incondensable
Incompressible means resistant to reduction in volume, whereas incondensable more specifically means unable to be condensed into a denser form or liquid.
Both words describe something that cannot be condensed, but incondensable is the more established adjective form.