Inaplicabile

Inaplicabile is an adjective used in Italian to mean not applicable or not relevant to a given situation. It is employed to indicate that a rule, criterion, condition, method, or regulation does not apply in the current context, often due to specific exceptions, scope limits, or particular characteristics of the case. The term is common in formal or technical writing, including legal, administrative, and academic texts.

Etymology and form: Inaplicabile is formed from the negating prefix in- plus applicabile (from Latin applicabilis, related to appicare and ultimately to applicable). The standard Italian spelling is inapplicabile, with a double p. The form inaplicabile (one p) is not typical in Italian; it is sometimes seen in other Romance languages in slightly different spellings (for example, Spanish inaplicable, Portuguese inaplicável, French inapplicable).

Usage notes: When something is described as inapplicabile, it signals that a rule or requirement cannot be enforced or is irrelevant under the stated circumstances. Writers often clarify the conditions under which a clause becomes inapplicabile or specify alternatives that apply instead.

Examples:

- Questo parametro è inapplicabile in questa situazione.

- La normativa è inapplicabile al caso esame per motivi di circostanza eccezionale.

See also: applicable, applicability, exception.