unintelligibly
Meaning
in a way that is impossible to understand
Structure
Usage
the drunk man mumbled unintelligibly into his phone.
the ancient text was so damaged that it read unintelligibly.
the announcement over the loudspeaker was delivered unintelligibly due to the static.
Etymology
the word 'unintelligibly' is built upon the core latin verb intelligere, meaning 'to understand, comprehend'. this verb itself is a compound of inter- (between, among) and legere (to gather, choose, read), suggesting the act of discerning meaning by selecting among elements. the suffix -ibilis was added to form the adjective 'intelligible', meaning 'able to be understood'. the negative prefix un-, of germanic origin but widely used in english, was then attached to create its opposite. finally, the adverbial suffix -ly (from old english -lice) was applied to the base 'unintelligible' to form the adverb describing the manner of being impossible to understand.
Analysis
un- (a prefix of negation, from old english and latin); intellig- (a root meaning 'understand', from latin intelligere); -ibly (an adverbial suffix meaning 'in a manner that can be', from latin -ibilis via old french).