unpublished

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + published,^[2][3][4][5] published being the past participle of publish,^[5][6] which comes through Old French publier (“to make public”) from Latin pūblicō (“to make public”), from pūblicus (“public, of the people”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not publicly announced or made generally known, especially in print: 1587, in Thomas Greepe's account of Drake's exploits.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to about 1600 in the sense "secret, private",^[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the early 17th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Early uses lean towards secrecy: from 1608, in King Lear, it meant not revealed, kept secret, a sense the OED records until 1886.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave "secret; unknown" first, quoting Lear's "All you unpublish'd virtues of the earth", and "not given to the publick" second, quoting Pope.^[7] The sense of writing not issued in print for sale became the main one,^[2][3] and since 1891 the word has also been used of authors whose work has not been printed;^[2] Etymonline dates this to 1934 and the Shorter Oxford to the mid-20th century.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1587 – not publicly known or issued.^[2][5]
• 1608 – kept secret, in Shakespeare's King Lear (obsolete by 1886).^[2][7]
• 1891 – of an author, having no work in print.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a piece of writing, not yet published or issued in print for sale or distribution: an unpublished diary.^[8][5][2]
2. Of a writer, having had no work published.^[8][2][3]
3. (obsolete, 1608–1886) Not revealed; kept secret.^[2][7][3]

Related words

• publish
• public
• publication

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins