un-
English
Etymology 1
PIE word |
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*ne |
From Middle English un-, from Old English un-, from Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-. Cognate with Scots un-, on- (“un-”), North Frisian ün-, Saterland Frisian uun-, West Frisian ûn-, on-, Dutch on-, Low German un-, on-, German un-, Danish u-, Swedish o-, Norwegian u-, Icelandic ó-. More distant cognate with Latin in-, Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (whence English a-, modern Greek α- (a-)) and Sanskrit अ- (a-).
Prefix
un-
- (added to adjectives or past participles) not
- unannounced (“not being announced”)
- uneducated (“not educated”)
- unattractive (“not attractive”)
- unconstitutional (“not constitutional”)
- (added to nouns) absent; lacking; not; negative
- ungrace (“lack of grace, gracelessness”)
- unrest (“a lack of rest [peace]; war”, noun)
- unhope (“despair”)
- unfriend (“enemy”)
- unrepair
- unluck (“misfortune”)
- unnova
- uncertainty (“lack or absence of certainty”)
- unconformity (“a lack or absence of conformity”)
- (added to nouns) contrary to or contrasted against traditional norms; unconventional; alternative
Usage notes
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.
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Etymology 2
From Middle English on-, from Old English ond-, and- (“against, facing, toward; in return, back, without”), from Proto-West Germanic *anda-, from Proto-Germanic *anda-, *andi- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“across, forth, forward, ahead”), from *h₂ént- (“end, limit, forehead”). More at and-.
Prefix
un-
- (added to verbs to form verbs) do the opposite of, reverse (a specified action)
- 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
- (added to nouns to form verbs) deprive of, release from, free from, remove from, extract from
- (rare) intensifying a verb that already suggests opposition or removal
Usage notes
- Only certain verbs 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
Translations
NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.
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Etymology 3
Prefix
un-
- Used to form temporary names of elements (such as unbiunium) whose existence has been predicted, and have not yet been given a trivial name.
- Used to form large numbers as the first in the sequence.
Synonyms
References
Anagrams
German
Etymology
From Middle High German un-, from Old High German un-, from Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʊn/, [ʔʊn]
- In derivatives, the prefix usually carries the stress, though there are exceptions to this.
Prefix
un-
- un- (denoting absence, a lack of; violative of; contrary to)
- grave; bad; horrifying
Derived terms
Gothic
Romanization
un-
- Romanization of 𐌿𐌽-
Luxembourgish
Etymology
Compare German an-, Dutch aan-, English on-.
Pronunciation
Prefix
un-
- prefixed form of un (“at, on”)
Usage notes
- The prefix is contracted to u- before non-alveolar consonants.
Derived terms
Manx
Etymology
From un (“one, single”).
Prefix
un-
Derived terms
Old English
Etymology 1
From Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *ne (“not”). Cognate with Old Frisian un-, Old Saxon un-, Old Dutch un-, Old High German un-, Old Norse ó-, Gothic 𐌿𐌽- (un-). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), Latin in-, and Old Irish in-.
Pronunciation
Prefix
un-
- negation or absence of: un-, non- (added to nouns and adjectives)
- un- + dēadlīċ (“mortal”) → undēadlīċ (“immortal”)
- un- + dēop (“deep”) → undēop (“shallow”)
- un- + dīere (“expensive”) → undīere (“cheap”)
- un- + druncen (“drunk”) → undruncen (“sober”)
- un- + fæġer (“beautiful”) → unfæġer (“ugly”)
- un- + ġewǣpnod (“armed”) → unġewǣpnod (“unarmed”)
- un- + nytt (“useful”) → unnytt (“useless”)
- un- + sċyldiġ (“guilty”) → unsċyldiġ (“innocent”)
- un- + rīpe (“mature”) → unrīpe (“immature”)
- un- + wita (“knower”) → unwita (“idiot”)
- bad (added to nouns to denote a pejorative sense; compare mis-, mal-)
- un- + dǣd (“action”) → undǣd (“crime”)
- un- + ġelimp (“event”) → unġelimp (“accident”)
- un- + hlīsa (“fame”) → unhlīsa (“infamy”)
- un- + lǣċe (“doctor”) → unlǣċe (“quack”)
- un- + lyft (“air”) → unlyft (“malaria,” lit. “bad air”)
- un- + mann (“person”) → unmann (“thug”)
- un- + rǣd (“advice”) → unrǣd (“bad advice”)
- un- + stenċ (“smell”) → unstenċ (“stench”)
- un- + swefn (“dream”) → unswefn (“bad dream”)
- un- + tīma (“time”) → untīma (“wrong time”)
- un- + þēaw (“habit”) → unþēaw (“vice”)
- un- + weder (“weather”) → unweder (“bad weather”)
Synonyms
- (bad): yfel
Descendants
Etymology 2
Originally an alternative form of on-, from Proto-Germanic *and-. Cognate with Old Frisian und-, Old Saxon ant-, Old High German ant- (German ent-).
Pronunciation
Alternative forms
Prefix
un-
- forms verbs from verbs, with an opposite or reversive sense
Derived terms
Old High German
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *ne (“not”). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), Latin in-, and Old Irish in-.
Prefix
un-
- un-; prefix of negation, absence or contrariness
Derived terms
Descendants
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *ne
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English prefixes
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂en-
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English productive prefixes
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German prefixes
- Gothic non-lemma forms
- Gothic romanizations
- Luxembourgish 1-syllable words
- Luxembourgish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Luxembourgish lemmas
- Luxembourgish prefixes
- Manx lemmas
- Manx prefixes
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English prefixes
- Old High German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old High German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old High German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old High German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old High German terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Old High German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old High German lemmas
- Old High German prefixes