unrest

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unreste,^[2][3] formed from English un- (“not”) + rest (“repose, ease”).^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Similar words exist in the neighbouring languages: West Frisian ûnrêst, Middle Low German unreste and unraste, Middle High German unreste, Middle Dutch onraste and German Unrast.^[4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of physical ease, discomfort: in the mid-14th century, according to Etymonline;^[5] the OED's first quotation, from the early Wycliffite Bible (before 1382), has the sense of disturbance or turmoil.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline dates "disturbance, turmoil" to the late 14th century, after the sense of bodily discomfort.^[5] Chaucer used unreste eight times, for distress or discomfort.^[2] The OED records an outbreak of disorder, a single episode of unrest, from 1477, and notes that in later use the word refers especially to turmoil arising from anger or discontent within a society,^[4] the sense of phrases such as civil unrest, social unrest and labor unrest.^[6][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as disquiet or want of tranquillity, quoting Spenser and Shakespeare.^[10] In Scottish and northern English dialect it was also a person or thing that causes disquiet.^[11] Middle English also had a verb unrest, to trouble or disturb, recorded from before 1382,^[4][5] which the OED says was apparently formed again in the late 20th century.^[4]

Timeline

• mid-14th century – lack of physical ease, discomfort.^[5]
• before 1382 – disturbance, turmoil, strife, in the early Wycliffite Bible; also the verb, to disturb.^[4]
• c. 1390 – unease, distress, the state of not being at peace.^[4]
• 1472 – in Scotland, a person chosen to preside over popular games and festivities (rare).^[4]
• 1477 – an outbreak of public disorder.^[4]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as disquiet, want of tranquillity.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A state of discontent and disturbance in a society, often with protests or violence: Price rises led to months of unrest in the capital.^[9][6][4]
2. An uneasy or troubled state of mind; disquiet.^[9][6][4]

Word family

• unresting

Related words

• restless

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
3. ^ a b Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)