Etymologically
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unbroken

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ʌnˈbɹəʊkn̩/[1]
  • US: /ʌnˈbɹoʊkn̩/[1]

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

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