One takes irretrievable as nohow amended. If ‘retrieve’ is the French retrouver (to find again), ‘irretrievable’ would mean not to be found again; and ‘the irretrievable defeat of the whole nation’ would be one which they could not find again, as most likely they would not wish to find it.
Twy-meanings.
From want of words in English, or of care, our wording may seem to bear two meanings, as ‘John played with Edwin, and broke his bat.’ The bat of which boy?
‘One Robert Bone of Antony shot at a little bird sitting upon his cow’s back, and killed it—the bird (I mean), not the cowe.’—Carew.
Word-sameness (Synonyms).
Words of the same meaning are less often so than they are so called; and we sometimes give lists of synonyms showing the differences of their meanings.
A twin of words of one very same meaning is rather evil than good; and if they are not of one very same meaning they should not be given as such.
It may be that from a misunderstanding of the word tautology, as the name of a bad kind of speech-trimming, men have often shunned the good use of words.
The bad tautology from which speakers have been so frayed seems to be the giving twice or many times, within one scope of thought-wording, the same matter of speech in the same words.
It is true that it would not be good wording to say ‘John has sold John’s horse’ for ‘his horse’ since the name-tokens are shapen to stand for foregiven names.