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I'm trying to contrast three types of mortality: "mortal", things which are living and temporary (humans); "immortal", things which maintain their existence through infinite lives (ideas); and "amortal", things which are not dependent on life to exist (machines).

'Amortal' is not technically a word; I was inspired by the use of 'astable' in an engineering context (https://english.stackexchange.com/a/134912/77833). Still, I find this comparison beautiful. Here's a sentence that attempts to incorporate all of them:

While the mortal architects of society have proven its foundations unstable, the architects of the Internet have engineered an immortal feat of amortal stability.

Does "amortal" make sense in this context? Or, how might you rewrite this sentence with a similar comparison?

rosstex
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    But surely nothing exists forever. Even the stable isotope of gold is subject to proton decay and has a half-life (very long, around 10³⁴ years, but not infinite). – Andrew Leach Jul 05 '20 at 07:11
  • @Andrew Leach "It is life, Jim, but not as we know it." A half-life and, say, human life, are different concepts. "Half-life uses "life" in a figurative sense. – Greybeard Jul 05 '20 at 14:37
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    I see no objection to coining "amortal" as a nonce word = without, or lacking, mortality, but the word for things like machines, toothpicks, and rock is "inanimate." – Greybeard Jul 05 '20 at 14:40
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    You can make up (or use in an unusual way) any word you please, as long as you make its intended meaning clear; whether doing so is going to be illuminating or distracting will be a matter of opinion, which will partially depend on the overall quality of your writing project. – jsw29 Jul 06 '20 at 05:44
  • Yes, like alingual, for instance. Interesting that the system says that's a typo. moral, immoral, amoral, the same pattern. [By the way, careful with all those "thes" in English; "Internet architects", no the. – Lambie Dec 02 '21 at 19:40
  • @Lambie Thanks for responding! You're right, I do like it without 'the'. – rosstex Dec 02 '21 at 21:08
  • The Amortal is also a short film and expanded character in various other media. – Grindlyth Dukal Dec 02 '21 at 18:38
  • ...why would this question be closed now, years later, while e.g. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/76374/instable-or-unstable remains open? Ridiculous. – rosstex Dec 03 '21 at 19:49

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Amortal is a word.

amortal in British English

(eɪˈmɔːtəl)

ADJECTIVE

pursuing a lifestyle that defies the process of ageing

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/amortal

Note that Merriam-Webster has "amort" which with a little stretch could be made adjectival.

Definition of amort archaic : being at the point of death https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amort

chasly - supports Monica
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  • So the difference between amortal and immortal is that someone living an amortal lifestyle can (and will if they continue the amortal lifestyle long enough) succumb to infection, accident, homicide or warfare whereas an immortal can neither die naturally nor violently. I think the MW definition is a bit of a red herring since that seems to be the other 'a' prefix meaning 'on' or 'at' as in 'aboard', 'astern', 'athwart' and so on. – BoldBen Jul 05 '20 at 18:34
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    Note that amort has a meaning greatly at odds with the meaning of amortal in Collins. The full-length OED (1971) defines amort as "In the state or act of death ; lifeless, inanimate ; fig. spiritless, dejected." Any adjective sense of amortal built on the OED's definition of of amort would be very far from the meaning "not dependent on life to exist" that the poster wants to convey. The "a-" prefix is the core problem here, as it has multiple possible meanings. To reduce the range of possible interpretations, the poster might consider nonmortal as an alternative to amortal. – Sven Yargs Dec 02 '21 at 19:54
  • Nonmortal is already in some dictionaries meaning non-fatal, although it was my first thought as a possible answer to this question. (Mortal occasionally means fatal, as in "mortal wound".) – Stuart F Dec 02 '21 at 21:59