imperceptibly

English

Etymology

imperceptible +‎ -ly

Adverb

imperceptibly (comparative more imperceptibly, superlative most imperceptibly)

1. Not noticeably; too small to be detected; too little to be perceived.

   No one noticed that he had moved imperceptibly backwards.

   • 1838, William Andrus Alcott, chapter I, in The Young House-keeper: Or, Thoughts on Food and Cookery‎^[1], third stereotype edition, Boston: George W. Light, page 21:

     It often happens that the most important results in the natural world are brought about by causes which operate silently, if not imperceptibly.

   • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 154:

     The moon moved imperceptibly towards setting.

2. Beyond the purview of man; too great and all-encompassing to be perceived.

Translations

not noticeably

• Catalan: imperceptiblement (ca)
• Dutch: onmerkbaar (nl), ongemerkt (nl)
• Finnish: huomaamatta, huomaamattomasti
• French: imperceptiblement (fr)
• German: unmerklich (de)
• Polish: niezauważalnie (pl)
• Russian: незаме́тно (ru) (nezamétno), незначи́тельно (ru) (neznačítelʹno)
• Spanish: imperceptiblemente (es)
• Swedish: omärkligt (sv), omärkbart
• Ukrainian: непомі́тно (nepomítno)