irrelevant
Meaning
Not connected with or relevant to something
Structure
Usage
That historical fact is interesting but irrelevant to the current legal debate.
The judge ruled the attorney's line of questioning was irrelevant and instructed the jury to ignore it.
When choosing a candidate, personal details like height are completely irrelevant.
Etymology
The word 'irrelevant' is a relatively modern English formation, built upon the older adjective 'relevant'. The core of 'relevant' comes from the Latin verb 'relevare', meaning 'to lift up' or 'to lighten', which itself is composed of 're-' (again) and 'levare' (to lift). The sense evolution moved from the physical act of lifting to the figurative idea of 'lessening a burden' and then to 'having a bearing on or relieving a problem'. The negative prefix 'ir-', an assimilated form of 'in-' used before 'r', was added in the 18th century to directly create the opposite meaning. Thus, the literal logic of the combined morphemes transforms from 'not lifting up' to the modern abstract concept of 'not connected to or bearing upon the subject'.
Analysis
- ir: Latin origin (variant of 'in-'), a prefix meaning 'not'. - relevant: From Latin 'relevans' (raising up, relieving), from 'relevare' (to lift up, lighten). In English, it functions as an adjective meaning 'closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand'.