Etymologically
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unfamiliar

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + familiar.[2][3][4][5] The adjective familiar comes from Old French familier, from Latin familiāris (“domestic, of a household”), from familia (“household, family”).[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not well known; strange: 1593, in Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity.[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1594,[7] and Etymonline the 1590s.[3] Johnson (1755) quoted Hooker for it: "The matters which we handle, seem, by reason of newness, dark, intricate, unfamiliar".[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the early use as "not well-known or acquainted; not wonted by frequent use".[3] Johnson defined it as "unaccustomed; such as is not common", and also quoted Warton on "Chaucer's uncouth, or rather unfamiliar, language".[8] The word now has three main uses: of a thing not known from earlier acquaintance, of something unusual, and of a person not acquainted with something.[4][9] The noun unfamiliarity followed in the mid-18th century, and unfamiliarized in the late 18th.[4]

Timeline

  • 1593 – not well known, strange, in Hooker.[2]
  • mid 18th century – the noun unfamiliarity.[4]
  • late 18th century – unfamiliarized.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not known or recognized; strange: An unfamiliar car was parked outside the house.[9][7][4]
  2. Unusual; not common or customary.[4][7][8]
  3. (followed by with) Not well acquainted with something: Many voters were unfamiliar with the new rules.[9][7][4]

Word family

  • unfamiliarity
  • unfamiliarly

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins