uncouth

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʌnˈkuːθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English uncūþ (“unknown”),^[2][3][4][5] from un- “not” and cūþ “known”,^[2][3][4] past participle of cunnan “to know”.^[3] Etymonline notes parallel compounds across Indo-European, such as Latin ignotus and Greek agnōtos.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English it meant unknown, of facts, lands and people, hence strange or unfamiliar.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

From “unknown, strange” the word passed by the 15th century to “strange and awkward, clumsy”,^[3] and then to crude and unmannerly.^[2][5][1] The sense “unfamiliar” is now rare.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 893 – of persons, unknown.^[6]
• c. 900 – unusual, strange.^[6]
• mid-15th century – awkward, clumsy.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Crude, unrefined or bad-mannered.
2. Awkward or clumsy.
3. (archaic) Unfamiliar or strange.

Word family

• uncouthly
• uncouthness
• unco

Related words

• couth
• can

References

1. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. [1] [2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press