un-

See also Appendix:Variations of "un"

English

Etymology 1

Privative, from Old English un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, related to Latin in-, Ancient Greek ἀ- (modern Greek α-) and Sanskrit अ-.

Prefix

un-

1. (added to adjectives or past participles) not

   unannounced — “not being announced”

   uneducated — “not educated”

   unattractive — “not attractive”

   unconstitutional — “not constitutional”

2. (added to nouns) absent, lacking, not

   unrest — “a lack of rest (peace); war”

   unhope (“despair”)

   unfriend (“enemy”)

Usage notes

• Some words formed in this way also have counterparts using in- or non-.

Derived terms

[+] English words prefixed with un-

Translations

NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.

denoting absence

Armenian: ան- (hy) (an-), չ- (hy) (č-), դժ- (hy) (dž-), տ- (hy) (t-) Catalan: in- (ca) Dutch: on- (nl) Faroese: ó- (fo) Finnish: epä- (fi) French: in- (fr), mal (fr), non- (fr) Galician: in- (gl) German: un- (de) Greek: α- (el) (a-) Ancient: ἀ- (a-) Icelandic: ó- (is) Italian: in- (it)

Latin: in- (la) Luxembourgish: on- (lb) Norwegian: u- (no) Old Norse: ú-, ó- Polish: nie- (pl) Portuguese: in- (pt) Romanian: ne- (ro) Russian: не- Scottish Gaelic: ao-, mì-, neo-, eu-, do-, an- Spanish: in- (es) Swedish: o- (sv), van- (sv)

denoting a lack of

Armenian: ան- (hy) (an-), չ- (hy) (č-), դժ- (hy) (dž-), տ- (hy) (t-) Catalan: in- (ca) Faroese: ó- (fo) French: in- (fr), non- (fr) German: un- (de) Greek: α- (el) (a-)

Portuguese: in- (pt), des- (pt) Russian: без-, не- Scottish Gaelic: ao-, mì-, neo-, eu-, do- Spanish: in- (es) Swedish: o- (sv)

violative of; contrary to

Afrikaans: on- (af) Albanian: pa- (sq) Armenian: հակա- (hy) (haka-) Azeri: na- (az) Basque: -a (eu) Bulgarian: не- (bg) (ne-) Catalan: in- (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 不 (zh) (bù) Croatian: ne- (hr) Czech: ne- (cs)

Danish: u- (da) Dutch: on- (nl) French: anti- (fr), in- (fr), non- (fr) German: un- (de) Greek: αντι- (el) (anti-) Portuguese: in- (pt), anti- (pt), não- (pt) Russian: не- Scottish Gaelic: an-, mì- Spanish: in- (es) Swedish: o- (sv), anti- (sv)

Etymology 2

From Old English and-

Prefix

un- (added to verbs and nouns to form verbs)

1. reverse, opposite

   to undress — “to take one's clothes off”

   to unwind — “to reverse a winding”

   to unlock — “to undo the locking of”

   • 1996, Diane Warren (writer), Toni Braxton (singer), “Un-Break My Heart”, Secrets, LaFace

     Un-cry these tears I cried so many nights / Un-break my heart

2. release, free, remove, extract.

   to uncage — “to release from a cage”

   to untangle — “to remove the tangling of”

Usage notes

• Only certain words can take un- to form a new word with the opposite meaning. In particular, verbs that describe an irreversible action produce words often considered nonsense, e.g. unkill, unspend, unlose, unring. These words may nevertheless be in occasional use for humorous or other effect.

Synonyms

• (oppostite): anti-, in-, non-
• (release): de-, dis-

Translations

NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.

reversal or cancellation

Armenian: ապ- (hy) (ap-) French: dé- (fr), dés- (fr) Greek: απο- (el) (apo-)

Italian: s- (it) Spanish: des- (es) Swedish: av- (sv)

Etymology 3

From Latin ūnus

Prefix

un-

1. Used to form temporary names of elements (such as ununbium) whose existence has been predicted, and have not yet been given a systematic name.

Synonyms

• -un-

References

• Definition of un- - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ʔʊn]

Prefix

un-

1. un- (denoting absence, a lack of; violative of; contrary to)

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Gothic

Romanization

un-

1. Romanization of 𐌿𐌽-

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Manx

Etymology

From un (“one”).

Prefix

un-

1. uni-, mono-, one

Derived terms

[+] Manx words prefixed with un-

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Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /un/

Etymology 1

Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *ne (“not”). Cognate with Old Saxon un- (Dutch on-), Old High German un- (German un-), Old Norse ó- (Swedish o-, Norwegian u), and Gothic 𐌿𐌽- (un-). The Indo-European root is also the source of Greek α- (a-), αν- (an-), Latin in-, and Old Irish in-.

Prefix

un-

1. (added to nouns and adjectives) negation, privation, or absence of
2. bad, used to denote a pejorative sense (compare mis-, mal-)

   undǣd "un-deed, a bad deed"

   unlǣċe (“bad physician”)

3. (added to verbs) down

   unsettan (“to set down, put down”)

Etymology 2

Originally identical with and-, from Proto-Germanic *and-. Cognate with Old Frisian und-, Old Saxon ant-, Old High German ant- (German ent-).

Alternative forms

• on-

Prefix

un-

1. Forming verbs from verbs, with an opposite or reversive sense.