Etymologically
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unrest

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Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈɹɛst/[1]

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
  • 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)