The reason for the prefix in- in invaluable is that it originally meant simply "impossible to value". It has somehow acquired the more specific meaning that it is impossible to value because its value is infinitely high. So there is no illogicality here.
Cf. innumerable, "impossible to count (because the number is infinite)", immense, "unmeasured (because it is too great to be measured)", etc. etc.
When you think about it, it is not even the word invaluable that has shifted in meaning the most, but rather valuable: it evolved from "capable of being valued" to "capable of being valued highly (because its value is high)". It is mostly the shift in the meaning of valuable that pulled the former opposites together, though I concede that invaluable bears some of the blame too.
Cf. numerous "having a high number", instead of simply "having a number", etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment