Etymologically
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untitled

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ʌnˈtaɪt(ə)ld/[1]
  • US: /ʌnˈtaɪt̬(ə)ld/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + titled, from the past participle of the verb title.[2][3][4][5] The OED treats the sense "deprived of a title" as a separate formation with the reversing prefix, from the noun and the suffix -ed.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Deprived of a title: 1596, in the second part of Spenser's Faerie Queene.[2][4] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1590,[6] and Dictionary.com to 1580–90.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Shakespeare's Macbeth an untitled tyrant is one with no right to rule,[2][7][6] a sense Etymonline dates to the 1660s[4] and the Shorter Oxford calls obsolete and rare.[3] The common sense, of a book or other work with no name, is recorded from 1612,[2][4] and the sense "not having a title of rank" from 1798.[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave only "having no title", with the line from Macbeth.[7]

Timeline

  • 1596 – deprived of a title.[2][4]
  • before 1616 – having no right to rule, in Shakespeare.[2]
  • 1612 – having no name.[2][4]
  • 1798 – not distinguished by a title of rank.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having no title or name: an untitled song from the band's first album.[8][6][2]
  2. Not having a title of rank or nobility.[6][2][3]
  3. Having no right or claim, especially to rule.[8][6][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins