incommensurable

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   in mathematics, lacking a shared unit that measures each quantity exactly; having an irrational ratio

   The side and diagonal of a square are incommensurable because their ratio is the square root of two.

2. 2
   adj

   too different in kind or scale to be meaningfully compared

   The study warns that ecological loss and short-term profit are incommensurable values.

From Medieval Latin incommensurabilis, formed from in- ("not") + commensurabilis ("having a common measure"). The figurative sense extends mathematical nonmeasurement to values or qualities that resist direct comparison.

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