inalienability

The inalienability of certain human rights is a fundamental legal principle.

Definition

Noun: The quality or state of being inalienable — that is, not capable of being surrendered, transferred, or taken away.

Usage Examples

• (The quality of rights that cannot be legally removed from individuals.)
• (The legal restriction that prohibits transfer of ownership.)
• (The inability to give up or forfeit one's own self-governance.)

Advanced Usage

• "inalienability clause": a legal provision that explicitly prohibits the transfer or surrender of a right or property.

  • The constitution includes an inalienability clause regarding freedom of speech. (A specific legal text ensuring that freedom of speech cannot be taken away.)

• "moral inalienability": the philosophical concept that certain ethical duties or rights cannot be renounced.

  • The moral inalienability of human dignity means no person can consent to slavery. (The ethical principle that dignity is permanently attached to a person.)

Variants and Related Words

• Inalienable (adjective): not subject to being taken away or transferred.

  • The right to life is often described as an inalienable right. (A right that cannot be removed.)

• Alienable (adjective): capable of being transferred or surrendered.

  • Most property is alienable, meaning it can be sold or given away. (Legally transferable.)

• Alienability (noun): the quality of being transferable or surrenderable.

  • The alienability of land is a basic principle of property law. (The ability to transfer ownership.)

Synonyms

• Non-transferability: the state of not being able to be passed from one person to another.
• Irrevocability: the quality of being impossible to reverse or cancel.
• Indefeasibility: the legal concept that a right cannot be annulled or made void.

Related Idioms

• "Baked in": used informally to describe a quality that is permanently integrated and cannot be removed.

  • The inalienability of these rights is baked into the nation's founding documents. (Permanently and unchangeably included.)

• "Set in stone": describing something fixed and unchangeable.

  • The inalienability of these freedoms is set in stone by the constitution. (Established as permanent and unalterable.)