alienable

American  

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

adjective

Law.

1. capable of being sold or transferred.

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alienable British  

/ ˈeɪlɪə-, ˈeɪljənəbəl /

adjective

1. law (of property) transferable to another owner

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Usage

What does alienable mean? Yes, alienable is a word, but it’s rarely used. It means able to be sold or transferred. It’s opposite, inalienable, is much more common. Inalienable is used to describe 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. Example: We work to make the founders’ words true—that human rights are in no way alienable.

Other Word Forms

• alienability noun

Etymology

Origin of alienable

1605–15; < French, Middle French aliė́nable from aliė́ner “to sell, transfer” from Latin aliēnāre “to transfer by sale” ( alien ) + -able

Example Sentences

Rights again are alienable and inalienable, which division does not coincide with the preceding.

From Moral Philosophy by Rickaby, Joseph , S. J.

A man's character, it will be argued, is an alienable personal possession.

From Determinism or Free-Will? by Cohen, Chapman

These lands were exempt from taxation, and, although they were not alienable, the right to occupy them passed from father to son with the obligation to military service.

From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly

Lands, according to this instrument, were free and alienable; the freemen of a corporation held them, but claimed no right of distribution.

From The History of the United States from 1492 to 1910, Volume 1 From Discovery of America October 12, 1492 to Battle of Lexington April 19, 1775 by Hawthorne, Julian

Such rights are property in the larger sense: they are in modern law transmissible and alienable, unless the contract is of a kind implying personal confidence, or a contrary intention is otherwise shown.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 2 "Constantine Pavlovich" to "Convention" by Various