Impossibility

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impossibility \Im*pos`si*bil"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Impossibilities}.
     [L. impossibilitas: cf. F. impossibilit['e].]
     1. The quality of being impossible; impracticability.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They confound difficulty with impossibility.


                                                    --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An impossible thing; that which is not possible; that
        which can not be thought, done, or endured.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Impossibilities! O, no, there's none. --Cowley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Inability; helplessness. [R.] --Latimer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Logical impossibility}, a condition or statement involving
        contradiction or absurdity; as, that a thing can be and
        not be at the same time. See {Principle of Contradiction},
        under {Contradiction}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impossibility
       n 1: incapability of existing or occurring [syn: {impossibleness}]
            [ant: {possibility}]
       2: an alternative that is not available [syn: {impossible
          action}]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  IMPOSSIBILITY. The character of that which. cannot be done agreeably to the 
  accustomed order of nature. 
       2. It is a maxim that no one is bound to perform an impossibility. A 
  l'impossible nul n'est tenu. 1 Swift's Dig. 93; 6 Toull. n. 121, 481. 
       3. As to impossible conditions in contracts, see Bac. Ab. Conditions, 
  M; Co. Litt. 206; Roll. Ab. 420; 6 Toull. n. 486, 686; Dig. 2, 14, 39; Id. 
  44, 7, 31; Id. 50, 17, 185; Id. 45, 1, 69. On the subject of impossible 
  conditions in wills, vide 1 Rop. Leg. 505; Swinb. pt. 4, s. 6; 6 Toull. 614. 
  Vide, generally, Dane's Ab. Index, h.t.; Clef des Lois Rom. par Fieffe 
  Lacroix, h.t.; Com. Dig. Conditions, D 1 & 2; Vin. Ab. Conditions, C a, D 
  a, E a.