unwarranted

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + warranted, the past participle of the verb warrant,^[2][3][4] and the OED takes it partly as un- with the noun warrant and the suffix -ed.^[5] The noun came into Middle English about 1200 as warant (“protector, defender”), from Old Northern French warant (“defender, surety, justifying evidence”), from Frankish *warand.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not authorized or justified: 1577, in a translation of Bullinger's Fifty Godly Sermons.^[5] Etymonline dates it to the 1570s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, "without authority or justification".^[5][3][2] Johnson (1755) defined it differently, as "not ascertained, uncertain", quoting a passage on an unwarranted conquest.^[6] Collins also records it as another word for unwarrantable.^[7]

Timeline

• 1577 – not authorized or justified.^[5]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as uncertain, not ascertained.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having no good reason or justification; uncalled-for: an unwarranted attack on the referee.^[7][2][4]
2. Not authorized by law or official permission: an unwarranted search.^[2][7]

Related words

• unwarrantable
• warrant
• warranty
• guarantee

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins