unintentional

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + intentional.^[2][3][4][5] Intentional, recorded from the 1520s, is from intention and -al, or else from Medieval Latin intentionalis.^[3] Intention goes back through Old French entencion to Latin intentiō (“a stretching out, exertion; attention”), from intendō (“to turn one's attention, stretch out”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Done or happening without design: 1701, according to Etymonline.^[3] Johnson (1755) already defines it as "not designed; happening without design", with a quotation from Boyle,^[6] while the OED's first record is from 1782, in Knox's Essays,^[2] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1775–85.^[5] The Shorter Oxford dates the adverb unintentionally to the mid 18th century, before the adjective.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, "not done on purpose".^[2][7][8] From 1838 it was also used of a person or agent acting without intention.^[2]

Timeline

• 1701 – not done with intention, accidental.^[3] The OED's first record is from 1782.^[2]
• 1838 – of an agent, not acting with intention.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not done on purpose; accidental or inadvertent: an unintentional slight.^[8][7][2]
2. Of a person: not acting with intention.^[2]

Word family

• unintentionally

Related words

• intentional
• intention
• intend
• unintended

References

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