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intact

adjective
in-TAKT/ɪnˈtækt/

4 meanings of intact

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Left complete or whole, with no part damaged, broken, or removed.

    The ancient manuscript survived the fire with its pages intact.

    Despite the company's troubles, its reputation remained intact.

    Similarwhole, complete, undamaged, unbroken, unscathed

    Oppositedamaged, broken, ruined, destroyed

    Note

    The core meaning the bodily senses borrow comes from Latin intactus, by way of Middle French. Its old sense of 'not touched' still lies beneath the modern 'undamaged'. The word usually comes after what it describes: things survive, remain or come through intact, or arrive with something intact, as in 'with all the usual Aardman strengths intact'. Though it sounds absolute, it takes degrees: more intact, most intact.

  2. 2
    adjective
    Of a male animal, not having been castrated and still retaining its reproductive organs.

    Stallions are typically intact, while geldings have been castrated.

    The veterinarian noted that the dog was still intact.

    Similarentire, uncastrated, unneutered, unaltered

    Oppositecastrated, neutered, gelded

    Note

    Breeders and veterinarians use this word mostly of animals. An intact bull, dog or stallion still has its testes and can sire offspring. The word separates the breeding male from its neutered counterparts, each of which has its own name: gelding for the horse, steer for cattle and wether for sheep. In this sense, intact is the general term that covers every species.

  3. 3
    adjective
    Of a man or his penis, uncircumcised and still having the foreskin.

    In many countries, most male infants stay intact rather than being circumcised.

    The doctor explained that the patient was intact and discussed routine hygiene.

    Similaruncircumcised

    Oppositecircumcised

    Note

    Here the word is a deliberate choice. Intactivists, who campaign against routine circumcision, take their very name from it. Calling the foreskin intact presents the unaltered state as the default rather than a lack. That is why the word turns up in self-descriptions: a 1985 personal advertisement in Gay Community News lists it alongside age and height. In neutral writing, uncircumcised is the plainer choice.

  4. 4
    adjective
    Of a woman, virginal, with the hymen still unbroken.

    Custom in the region required that a bride be intact on her wedding day.

    By tradition, the midwife was asked whether the young woman was still intact.

    Similarvirginal, chaste

    Note

    This is a discreet word for virginity. It takes the 'undamaged' meaning and applies it to the body. It belongs to clinical or carefully indirect speech. In Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), a doctor's 'She is quite intact' answers a question nobody will ask aloud. The word lets a speaker state the fact without naming it, and that is most of its use.

Practice

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Origin

The word came into English from Middle French intact, which came from Latin intactus.