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Etymology and origin of the English word un-

English has two main prefixes spelled un-: one that negates and one that reverses an action.[1][2] They have different origins but have long been felt as similar.[3][1][2] A third un-, from Latin ūnus (“one”), forms the temporary names of chemical elements with an atomic number above 100, such as unnilquadium.[1][4]

Pronunciation

un-1 not

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English un- via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Etymology

The negative prefix is inherited from Middle English un-,[6][2] inherited from Old English un-,[1][3][7][8] from Proto-Germanic *un-,[3] from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, the zero grade of *ne (“not”), which is also the source of no.[1][3][8][2] It is cognate with Old Frisian un-, Dutch on-, Old Saxon un-, Old High German un-, German un-, Old Norse ú- and Gothic 𐌿𐌽- (un-),[1][3][8] and it comes from the same Indo-European base as Latin in-, the source of in-3, and Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), the source of a-2.[1][3][8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English has well over 1,000 recorded words with this prefix, which was added freely with a purely negative force to adjectives, adverbs, past and present participles and nouns:[1][3] unclean, uncouth, unborn, unknown, unfeeling.[1]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that some Old English formations had a pejorative sense since lost, as in uncræft (“an evil art”), and that Middle English kept only a fraction of them.[2] The stock then grew again with native words such as untidy, and also with Scandinavian and French bases such as unmeek and ungracious.[2] The prefix has been used less with short simple adjectives that already have an opposite, so there is no unbig beside small.[8][2] On the other hand adjectives in -able, -ful, -ish, -ive and -ous take it very often.[8] It disputes many words with its Latin cognate in- (indigestible, undigestible); the usual rule of thumb has been in- with evidently Latin elements and un- with native or naturalized ones.[3][2] It can be euphemistic, as in untruth for a lie, and it makes words from whole phrases, as in uncalled-for (c. 1600) and uncome-at-able (1690s, in Congreve), which Johnson frowned on.[3]

Timeline

  • early Old English – with past participles, in King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care.[1]
  • c. 1454 – with adjectives in -able formed on verbs, in Pecock.[1]
  • c. 1600 – uncalled-for, a phrase with the prefix.[3]
  • 1650 – with compound adjectives in -like.[1]
  • 1797 – with adjectives from the names of people, meaning at odds with that person's style.[1]
  • 1839 – with -able adjectives from phrasal verbs, as in the later unputdownable.[1]

Meanings

Prefix

  1. Added to adjectives, participles and adverbs to mean not: unhurried, unfairly.[9][7][1]
  2. Added to nouns to mean the opposite or lack of something: unbelief, unrest.[9][7][10]
  3. Added to adjectives from names to mean not in keeping with that place or person: un-American.[1]

Word family

un-2 reversal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English un- via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *anti

Etymology

The reversive prefix is inherited from Middle English un-,[6][7] inherited from Old English un-, also on-,[1][3][2][7] originally an unstressed variant of and- (“against”),[1][2] reshaped by association with the negative prefix.[1][2] That is from Proto-Germanic *andi-,[3] from Proto-Indo-European *anti (“facing, against”).[3] It is cognate with Old Saxon ant-, Old Norse and-, Dutch ont-, Old High German ant-, German ent- and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳- (and-),[3][2][8] and with Latin ante (“before”) and Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “opposite”).[2][11] It is related to ante-, anti- and answer.[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English had verbs of reversal with un- and on- side by side, some common and some rare.[1] Among them were unbind, undo, unfold, untie and unwind.[1] Barnhart dates undo before 899 as andōn and about 930 as undōn.[2]

Semantic evolution

A few new verbs appear in early Middle English, among them unbend and, with a French base, uncover.[1] They became much more common during the 14th century and more so again in the 16th and 17th, when lexicographers such as Florio coined many that did not last (uncompass, unflow).[1][2] The rate of coinage has fallen since then, partly because de- took over much of the work and later English has dropped many doublets with dis- and de-.[1] From the sense of undoing, the prefix came to mean removing something named by a noun, as in unhinge and unleash.[2][7] Etymonline notes that it is sometimes merely emphatic, as in unloose, and that unlocked can belong to either un-.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 890 – unfold, to spread out.[2]
  • c. 1000 – untie, unyoke.[2]
  • before 1325 – uncover.[2]
  • 1472–75 – unpack.[2]
  • 1602 – unhand.[2] Unhinge follows in 1612.[2]
  • 1671 – unleash.[2]

Meanings

Prefix

  1. Added to verbs to mean reverse the action: unlock, unwrap.[9][7][4]
  2. Added to nouns or verbs to mean remove or deprive of something: unmask, unfrock.[7][4]
  3. Added to nouns or verbs to mean release or free from something: untether, unburden.[7][4]
  4. Added to nouns to mean take out of a place: unearth.[7][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.

Related etymologies

  • childhood · also from Old English
  • wheel · also from Old English
  • tower · also from Old English
  • inch · also from Old English
  • coal · also from Old English
  • shower · also from Old English
  • shoulder · also from Old English
  • inner · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Un-.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/un-. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·