INVIOLABLE is a hound baying for the hunt. Some words have fallen out of honorable service due to abuse. But ‘inviolable’ is a gleaming sword in the arsenal of good men bent on humanity’s defense. It stands ready beside its battle mate shield, SACROSANCT. Potentially one of the most important words in the English language, inviolable is also one of the least known. It means the violation of a person is wrong because all people are invaluable. Given the blood-soaked landscape of human history, the truth of immeasurable human worth is not obvious, so we need a word for it.

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