I was about halfway through "Les Miserables" last night, at the point where Marius is falling in love with Cosette; Victor Hugo (or more properly by the translator) says that Marius "heard the sound of an ineffable voice," and only three pages later picked up a handkerchief "which appeared to him to exhale ineffable odours."
The definition of the word is clear - that which cannot be expressed in words, as for example emotions, religious experiences, infinity etc. Also that which must not be spoken, as V*ldem*rt in Harry Potter, and even that which is unpronounceable (?places in Wales?). The OED even adds "trousers," as the equivalent of "unmentionables."
The root origin is the Latin "effari" = ex (out) + fari (to speak). What puzzles me is why there seem to be no (English) words related to "fari." Or are there some, and I just can't think of them???
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