un-
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ʌn/
Audio (US) (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /an/
Etymology 1 edit
| PIE word |
|---|
| *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 edit
un-
- (added to adjectives or past participles) not
- un- + educated → uneducated (“not educated”)
- (added to nouns) lack of
- un- + conformity → unconformity (“lack of conformity”)
- (added to nouns) contrary to traditional norms; unconventional
- un- + conference → unconference
Usage notes edit
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Additionally, almost all of the unsorted terms in the following category belong to this sense:
Translations edit
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 edit
| PIE word |
|---|
| *h₂énti |
From Middle English on-, from Old English on-, 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 *h₂énts (“end, limit, forehead”). More at and-.
Prefix edit
un-
- (added to verbs) the inverse of a specified action
- un- + dress → undress (“to take one's clothes off”)
- un- + lock → unlock (“to undo the locking of”)
- 1996, “Un-Break My Heart”, in Secrets, performed by Toni Braxton:
- 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
- un- + decipher → undecipher
- un- + thaw → unthaw
Usage notes edit
- 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, ironic or rhetorical effect.
- Although this prefix and Etymology 1 are homonymous and semantically similar (both relating to negation), they generally do not collide as they apply to different parts of speech. Ambiguity can however be caused when used with other derivational affixes; for instance unlockable can be parsed as either unlock -able (“possible to unlock”) or un- lockable (“impossible to lock”). The latter sense may be able to be expressed unambiguously by using non- instead (non-lockable).
- It is possible for a word to contain both prefixes, e.g. unundoable, but this is generally avoided due to being clumsy or unclear.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.
Etymology 3 edit
Prefix edit
un-
- Used for the digit one to form temporary names of elements whose existence has been predicted, and which have not yet been given a trivial name.
- Used to form large numbers as the first in the sequence.
- un- + decillion (“1033”) → undecillion (“1036”)
- un- + vigintillion (“1063”) → unvigintillion (“1066”)
Synonyms edit
References edit
Anagrams edit
German edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
- IPA(key): /ʊn/, [ʔʊn]
- In derivatives, the prefix usually carries the stress, though there are exceptions to this.
Prefix edit
un-
- un- (denoting absence, a lack of; violative of; contrary to)
- grave; bad; horrifying
Derived terms edit
Gothic edit
Romanization edit
un-
- Romanization of 𐌿𐌽-
Luxembourgish edit
Etymology edit
Compare German an-, Dutch aan-, English on-.
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
un-
- prefixed form of un (“at, on”)
Usage notes edit
- The prefix is contracted to u- before non-alveolar consonants.
Derived terms edit
Manx edit
Etymology edit
From un (“one, single”).
Prefix edit
un-
Derived terms edit
Old English edit
Etymology 1 edit
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 edit
Prefix edit
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- + 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 edit
- (bad): yfel
Descendants edit
Etymology 2 edit
Originally an alternative form of on-, from Proto-Germanic *and-. Cognate with Old Frisian und-, Old Saxon ant-, Old High German ant- (German ent-).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Prefix edit
un-
- forms verbs from verbs, with an opposite or reversive sense
Derived terms edit
Old High German edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
un-
- un-; prefix of negation, absence or contrariness