unbroken

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + broken.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Middle English forms were unbroken, unbrokon and unbroke.^[7] Old English had ungebrocen (“unbroken”).^[3][7][8] The OED compares Middle Dutch ongebroken and Middle High German ungebrochen, still ongebroken and ungebrochen in Dutch and German.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of compacts or vows: not broken, not infringed: before 1300, in the Cursor Mundi.^[2][3] The MED's earliest quotation, from statutes of before 1325, speaks of holding an agreement whole and unbroken.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the keeping of promises the word spread to material things that were whole, not fractured: the OED dates this to 1495, but the MED quotes Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus, of before 1398.^[2][7][3] It then came to describe spirit or courage that had not been crushed (1513), horses not yet tamed (1538), time or a sequence that was not interrupted (1561), ground not broken by the plough (1579) and troops whose ranks held firm (1720).^[2][3] The horse sense belongs to an old pattern of describing obedience and freedom in terms of taming horses, recorded from Old English.^[9] Johnson (1755) gave "not violated" as its first sense, with unbroke as a variant;^[10] the Shorter Oxford marks unbroke as archaic.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1300 – of compacts or vows, not infringed.^[2][3]
• before 1398 – whole, not fractured, in Trevisa.^[7] The OED dates this sense to 1495.^[2]
• 1513 – of spirit, not crushed or subdued.^[2][3]
• 1538 – of horses, not tamed.^[2][3]
• 1561 – not interrupted, continuous.^[2]
• 1579 – of ground, not broken by ploughing.^[2]
• 1720 – of troops, not broken in ranks.^[2]
• 1829 – in botany, of flowers, not variegated.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not interrupted; continuous: an unbroken line of trees along the road.^[11][5][2]
2. Whole and intact; not broken into pieces.^[11][5][2]
3. Of a promise, law or agreement: not violated or infringed.^[11][5][2]
4. Not crushed or subdued in spirit; undaunted.^[11][5][2]
5. Of a horse or other animal: not tamed or trained.^[11][5][2]
6. Of a record: not yet beaten.^[11]
7. Of ground: not ploughed or dug.^[2][4]

Word family

• unbrokenly
• unbrokenness

Related words

• unbreakable
• broken
• break

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e 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)
8. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus, University of Glasgow, mappingmetaphor.arts.gla.ac.uk
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins