indelible

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   impossible or very difficult to erase, wash away, or remove

   Voters dipped a finger in indelible ink after casting their ballots.

2. 2
   adj

   impossible to forget or having a permanent influence

   Her first sight of the ruined city left an indelible impression on her memory.

3. 3
   adj

   in Christian theology, permanently marking the soul and therefore incapable of being annulled

   In that doctrine, ordination confers an indelible spiritual character.

From Latin indelebilis ("indestructible, imperishable"), formed from in- ("not") + delere ("to destroy, erase") + -bilis ("able"). Delete comes from the same Latin verb. The figurative sense extends a mark that cannot be erased to a memory or influence that cannot be removed.

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