Guess the Definition

OK.... some hints (for the above) :
1) I read that the word is seldom spoken; its synonyms are much more often invoked, in fact they are almost exclusively used.
I first came across it via reading it, not hearing it. I have never heard it spoken either., only its synonyms.
But I have since come across it quite often in my reading.
2) Tolkien uses it a few times in his letters and essays. AI tells me it appears a couple time in one of the HoME stories.
3) Its meaning describes a condition or situation that is mentioned quite often in Tolkien's works, but the synonyms are used rather than this word.
4) It is also used for similar conditions or situations common in our world.
5) In both worlds (ours and ME) it can be used with respect to spiritual/supernatural matters (or events) or temporal/ mundane matters (or events).
6) When it, or one of its synonyms, is used it will usually cause a sensation of disquiet in the reader, sometimes a sensation more disturbing than mere disquiet.

Deimos said:

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Amusing if true: a synonym for "inconceivable!"?

Eljorahir said:

Amusing if true: a synonym for "inconceivable!"?

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No...but it's a logical assumption (knowing how nerdy of a group we are 😁)

Deimos said:

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I am heavily tempted, by the thumbnail of The Princess Bride, to guess this is a misspoken way of saying "Intellectual", but words can look very strange, even when they are in one's native tongue.

Does it bear any resemblence to "Intellectual" in its meaning?

Is it a way of describing a situation ending in a completely unforeseen manner compared to other likely outcomes, thereby confusticating those who bear witness to it (as they had expected something else resulting, and the actual result had already not been considered)?

(Kind of like how a eucatastrophe is a wonderful resolution to a circumstance that came unforeseen beyond all hope and expectation, but ineluctable is not so specific and may not necessarily be positive all the time.)

WatcherWraith said:

I am heavily tempted, by the thumbnail of The Princess Bride, to guess this is a misspoken way of saying "Intellectual", but words can look very strange, even when they are in one's native tongue.

Does it bear any resemblence to "Intellectual" in its meaning?

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That's a "Negative"

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Is it a way of describing a situation ending in a completely unforeseen manner compared to other likely outcomes, thereby confusticating those who bear witness to it (as they had expected something else resulting, and the actual result had already not been considered)?

(Kind of like how a eucatastrophe is a wonderful resolution to a circumstance that came unforeseen beyond all hope and expectation, but ineluctable is not so specific and may not necessarily be positive all the time.)

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You are getting closer.. it's not quite an ending but it is a final "assessment" of the situation (or event).
That is, no other evaluation (other than "ineluctable") seems possible... and, as I said earlier, it's usually a "disquieting" assessment.

Hmm
Does it mean "unavoidable", I wonder?
Maybe I should not be so specific. If it is disquieting, does it have to do with ominousness? Or perhaps a sense of doom(as in "fate")?

WatcherWraith said:

Hmm
Does it mean "unavoidable", I wonder?
Maybe I should not be so specific. If it is disquieting, does it have to do with ominousness? Or perhaps a sense of doom(as in "fate")?

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BINGO! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a Weener, folks! We have a Weener! Whoot! Whoot! Whoot! Whoot!

ineluctable... adj... from the Latin, in- ("not") + ineluctabilis from the verb eluctari ("to struggle clear of"), that is, "unable to avoid or escape from"

Tolkien's use of the word:
[Letter 163] (to W.H. Auden, 1955): Tolkien explicitly writes, "I have what some might call an Atlantis complex. ... I mean the terrible recurrent dream (beginning with memory) of the Great Wave, towering up, and coming in ineluctably over the trees and green fields".

[Letter 257] (to Susan 1964): Tolkien mentions the dream again, stating, "In sleep I had the dreadful dream of the ineluctable Wave, either coming out of the quiet sea, or coming in towering over the green inlands".

AI says (but I have not verified this) "The sentiment is also associated with the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (The Debate of Finrod and Andreth), which appears in The History of Middle-earth, Volume X: Morgoth's Ring, regarding the "ineluctable" fate of death. The phrase specifically regarding the wave is documented in The Lost Road and referenced in studies of the Second Age. "

So Yes @WatcherWraith ... the word is intimately associated with Fate or Doom ** , in a solemn or serious way, as the "ineluctable March of Time" .
Hence the sensation of disquiet, or impending disaster.
Whenever I have read the word , whatever the situation being described, one of two images comes into my head :
A person standing in the middle of a road with sheer embankments on either side (and I, the viewer, standing behind him seeing what he is seeing) and a huge dark unidentifiable something is approaching ...not ugly, not evil, neither animal nor vegetable nor mineral, just big and absolutely unavoidable.
The second image (and the more disquieting one) is of Michelangelo's fresco The Last Judgment on the west altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.

** Tolkien did not use "doom" as a synonym for death; he used it as a synonym for Fate ---as did Homer, the Greek playwrights, Shakespeare--- which may involve death. It is only modern "writers" (such as they are 🙄) who use Doom solely in relation to dying and death .

Thank you for your in-depth explanation of this word! It shall help me greatly to remember the meaning :] What a haunting word.

As I so recently had a word for others to guess, I shall see if someone else wants to go first. In the meantime, I shall gather ideas, and if nobody desires a go, then I shall present my chosen word. I shall try to choose a fascinating one too :]

WatcherWraith said:

Thank you for your in-depth explanation of this word! It shall help me greatly to remember the meaning :] What a haunting word.

As I so recently had a word for others to guess, I shall see if someone else wants to go first. In the meantime, I shall gather ideas, and if nobody desires a go, then I shall present my chosen word. I shall try to choose a fascinating one too :]

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"Haunting" is right....😬

Well, I just learned a word two days ago after stumbling across it while reading something.

Your word is...

Crepuscular.

There are two specific accepted definitions for this word, so I will accept either.

I have three dictionaries for ready reference on my shelf, the first of which did not list the word, the second which listed two, and the third listed one (same as one in the second dictionary).

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Well, I just learned a word two days ago after stumbling across it while reading something.

Your word is...

Crepuscular.

There are two specific accepted definitions for this word, so I will accept either.

I have three dictionaries for ready reference on my shelf, the first of which did not list the word, the second which listed two, and the third listed one (same as one in the second dictionary).

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I think crepuscular might have something to do with dawn or dusk. I'm sure I've heard of crepuscular light before.

Is it another word for twilight?

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Well, I just learned a word two days ago after stumbling across it while reading something.

Your word is...

Crepuscular.

There are two specific accepted definitions for this word, so I will accept either.

I have three dictionaries for ready reference on my shelf, the first of which did not list the word, the second which listed two, and the third listed one (same as one in the second dictionary).

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I'm going to try starting more generally than I usually do ':]

Does this word refer to a noun?

Bowing out... one of favorite words 🙂

Vorondil said:

Is it another word for twilight?

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You nailed the time of day indeed! And since you put it in a sentence in an adjective form (which it is), I'll give it all to you! 🥳

Crepuscular is "of or like/having the appearance of twilight".

Would you like to guess the secondary meaning? It is related.

Deimos said:

Bowing out... one of favorite words 🙂

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When I saw it, I knew I would be using it in my vocabulary as it deserves to be! 😃

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

You nailed the time of day indeed! And since you put it in a sentence in an adjective form (which it is), I'll give it all to you! 🥳

Crepuscular is "of or like/having the appearance of twilight".

Would you like to guess the secondary meaning? It is related.

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Does the secondary meaning also have to do with light?

WatcherWraith said:

Does the secondary meaning also have to do with light?

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Indeed it does.

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Indeed it does.

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I remember hearing of "corpuscles of light" without knowing the exact meaning of the first word. Wouod this have anything to do with blobs of light or balls of light?

WatcherWraith said:

I remember hearing of "corpuscles of light" without knowing the exact meaning of the first word. Wouod this have anything to do with blobs of light or balls of light?

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It does not. Side note, the noun form of crepuscular is crepuscle. Which happens to look close because of sharing the same latter root!