imperceptible

adj

1. Not perceptible, not detectable, too small in magnitude to be observed.

   “We all missed the imperceptible shake of his head as he tried to warn us without being seen.”

   “For this ſtone may have naturally grown into this very ſhape, and the ſeeming aſhes may be no aſhes, that is no remainders of any ſewell burnt there, but ſome unexplicable and imperceptible Motions of the Aire, or other particles of this fluid Matter that is active every where, have wrought ſome parts of the Matter into the form and nature of aſhes, and have fridg’d and plaid about ſo, that they have alſo figured thoſe intelligible Characters in the ſame.”

   “A narrow, almost imperceptible path led them through the thickest of the wood. Two or three times they had to creep under boughs which, but for the ease with which they gave way, would seem never to have admitted a passage before.”

   “To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still.”

   “Very small benefits may be imperceptible. And it is plausible to claim that an 'imperceptible benefit' is not a benefit.”

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

noun

1. Something that is imperceptible.

   “The worm that cauſeth it, is it any thing elſe but one of thoſe little Creatures, that hath deprived it ſelf from all ſocitety, to eſtabliſh it ſelf a Gyant in its own Countrey? If you ask me, VVhy they are bigger then other imperceptibles? I muſt ask you, VVhy Elephants are bigger then we?”

   “I come next to ſome other ſtrange Acquirements obtained by the helps of theſe Glaſſes; and particularly for the diſcerning the Imperceptibles of Nature; ſuch as, the Soul, Thought, Honeſty, Religion, Virginity, and an Hundred other nice things, too ſmall for humane Diſcerning.”

   “The Church assures the faithful that in the Eucharist one imperceptible is changed into another: the mind illumined by faith recognizes the change and says, Here is a miracle, here is something out of the usual course of nature.”

   “It was a lazy Sunday. What made it meaningful were not the facts or details, but the imperceptibles. Inner life. The smell of the beach grass and the feel of sand on a bathroom floor when changing out of a swimsuit. The heat of American summer.”