óefnislegs

Óefnislegs is an Icelandic adjective meaning immaterial or non-material. It is used to describe things that lack physical substance, such as ideas, values, or abstract concepts, and it is common in philosophical, theological, legal, and scientific discourse to distinguish between what is material and what is immaterial.

Etymology and form: The word is built from efni, meaning substance or material, with the negative prefix ó- and the suffix -legs, which forms adjectives indicating absence of the stated quality. The base form is óefnislegt; the inflected form óefnislegs appears in certain grammatical contexts or in compound phrases, for example in expressions like óefnislegs eðlis meaning “of immaterial nature.”

Usage: Óefnislegs conveys a formal or technical register. It is typically applied to non-physical attributes such as thoughts, values, rights, or essences whose being is not material. It stands in contrast to efnislegur/efnislegt, meaning material or physical, used to describe tangible substances or properties.

See also: immaterial, non-material; efnislegur, efni, eðli. In Icelandic lexicography, óefnislegt is a closely related base adjective, while óefnislegs is one of the inflected forms used in specific syntactic constructions.