unaltered

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + altered,^[2][3][4][5] the past participle of alter.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unchanged: 1551, in Robert Recorde's Pathway to Knowledg.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1550s,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1545–55.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since the 16th century.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "not changed; not changeable", with quotations from Hooker, Paradise Regain'd and Dryden.^[7] The OED also records it of an animal that has not been castrated.^[2]

Timeline

• 1551 – unchanged.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1550s.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not altered; remaining as it was originally: The old mill has survived almost unaltered.^[8][3][2]
2. Of an animal, not castrated.^[2]

Related words

• alter
• altered
• alteration
• unalterable

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins