union

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈjuː.njən/, /-ni.ən/, US /ˈjuː.njən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman unioun and Old French union,^[2][3] from Late Latin ūniō (“oneness, unity, a uniting”),^[2][4][3] which in classical Latin meant “a single large pearl” or “an onion”,^[2][3] from Latin ūnus (“one”),^[2][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *oi-no- (“one, unique”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of uniting, or the state of being united: 1410,^[3] or the early 15th century, when it also meant “agreement, accord” and “matrimony”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The union of a nation's parties or sections is from about 1460,^[6] and the uniting of countries into one political body from the 1540s.^[2] A group or confederation of people or states is from the 1650s^[2] or 1660.^[3] The political sense “the United States, the union of states” is from 1775,^[2] and during the American Civil War it named the states that remained after the Southern secession.^[2][7] Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom, is from 1674.^[3] As short for trade union it is by 1833,^[2][3] and the verb unionize from 1841.^[3] In mathematics a union is the set of all elements belonging to any of several sets.^[7]

Timeline

• 1410 – a uniting.^[3]
• c. 1460 – union of a nation's parties.^[6]
• 1540s – political union.^[2]
• 1650s – a confederation.^[2]
• 1674 – Union Jack.^[3]
• 1775 – the United States.^[2]
• 1833 – a trade union.^[2][3]
• 1841 – unionize.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of uniting, or the state of being united.
2. A combination formed by uniting, such as an alliance or confederation.
3. A trade union or labour union.
4. A marriage.
5. (mathematics) The set of elements belonging to at least one of two or more sets.
6. The United States, especially during the Civil War.

Adjective

1. Relating to a labour union.
2. Relating to or loyal to the United States in the Civil War.

Word family

• antiunion
• interunion
• preunion
• prounion
• unionisation
• unionism
• unionist
• unionization

Related words

• reunion
• reunification
• unify
• unity
• unite
• unique
• one
• onion
• unionize

Usage notes

Trench notes Pliny's report that unio was given to a pearl in which all the best qualities met and were, so to speak, united, and English union kept this sense, “a large pearl of great value”, from 1592.^[8][6][9] Latin ūniō “onion” is the source of onion.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press