un-

• IPA^(key): /ʌn/

From Middle English un-, from Old English un-, from Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-. Cognate with Scots un-, on- (“un-”), North Frisian ün-, Saterland Frisian uun-, West Frisian ûn-, on-, Dutch on-, Low German un-, on-, German un-, Danish u-, Swedish o-, Norwegian u-, Icelandic ó-. More distant cognate with Latin in-, Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (whence English a-, modern Greek α- (a-)) and Sanskrit अ- (a-).

Doublet of in- and a-.

un-

1. (added to adjectives or past participles) not

   unannounced (“not being announced”)

   uneducated (“not educated”)

   unattractive (“not attractive”)

   unconstitutional (“not constitutional”)

2. (added to nouns) absent; lacking; not; negative

   unconformity (“lack of conformity”)

   ungrace (“lack of grace, gracelessness”)

   unrest (“a lack of rest [peace]; war”, noun)

   unhope (“despair”)

   unfriend (“enemy”)

   unrepair

   unluck (“misfortune”)

   unnova

   uncertainty (“lack or absence of certainty”)

   unconformity (“a lack or absence of conformity”)

3. (added to nouns) contrary to or contrasted against traditional norms; unconventional; alternative

   unconference

   unmethod

• Some words formed in this way may also have counterparts using in- or non-.

• (not): a-, an-, dys-, i-/il-/im-/in-/ir-, mal-, non-

NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.

From Middle English on-, from Old English ond-, and- (“against, facing, toward; in return, back, without”), from Proto-West Germanic *anda-, from Proto-Germanic *anda-, *andi- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“across, forth, forward, ahead”), from *h₂énts (“end, limit, forehead”). More at and-.

un-

1. (added to verbs to form verbs) do the opposite of, reverse (a specified action)

   to undress (“to take one's clothes off”)

   to unwind (“to reverse a winding”)

   to unlock (“to undo the locking of”)

   • 1996, Diane Warren (writer), Toni Braxton (singer), “Un-Break My Heart”, Secrets, LaFace

     Un-cry these tears I cried so many nights
     Un-break my heart

2. (added to nouns to form verbs) deprive of, release from, free from, remove from, extract from

   to uncage (“to release from a cage”)

   to untangle (“to remove the tangling of”)

3. (rare) intensifying a verb that already suggests opposition or removal

   undecipher; unloose; unthaw

• Only certain verbs can take un- to form a new word with the opposite meaning. In particular, verbs that describe an irreversible action produce words often considered nonsense, e.g. unkill, unspend, unlose, unring. These words may nevertheless be in occasional use for humorous, ironic or rhetorical effect.
• Although this prefix and Etymology 1 are homonymous and semantically similar (both relating to negation), they generally do not collide as they apply to different parts of speech. Ambiguity can however be caused when used with other derivational affixes; for instance unlockable can be parsed as either unlock -able (“possible to unlock”) or un- lockable (“impossible to lock”). The latter sense may be able to be expressed unambiguously by using non- instead (non-lockable).
  • It is possible for a word to contain both prefixes, e.g. unundoable, but this is generally avoided due to being clumsy or unclear.

• (opposite): anti-, in-, non-
• (release): de-, dis-, off-

NOTE: Words using the prefix un- do not necessarily use the prefixes given here when translated. See individual words for more accurate translations.

From Latin ūnus.

un-

1. Used to form temporary names of elements (such as unbiunium) whose existence has been predicted, and have not yet been given a trivial name.
2. Used to form large numbers as the first in the sequence.

   undecillion

   unvigintillion

   untrigintillion

• -un-

• Definition of un- - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

• NU, Nu, nu

From Middle High German un-, from Old High German un-, from Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• IPA^(key): /ʊn/, [ʔʊn]
  • IPA^(key): /ʊŋ/ (before /k/, /ɡ/; substandard, but common)
  • IPA^(key): /ʊm/ (before /p/, /b/; nonstandard, slightly less common; causes merger with um-)
• In derivatives, the prefix usually carries the stress, though there are exceptions to this.

un-

1. un- (denoting absence, a lack of; violative of; contrary to)
2. grave; bad; horrifying

   ‎un- + ‎Ding (“thing”) → ‎Unding (“something unacceptable”)

   ‎un- + ‎Fall (“case, situation”) → ‎Unfall (“accident”)

   ‎un- + ‎Mensch (“human being”) → ‎Unmensch (“brute, barbarian”)

   ‎un- + ‎Tier (“animal”) → ‎Untier (“beast, monster”)

   ‎un- + ‎Wetter (“weather”) → ‎Unwetter (“storm, severe weather”)

un-

1. Romanization of 𐌿𐌽-

Compare German an-, Dutch aan-, English on-.

• IPA^(key): /un/

un-

1. prefixed form of un (“at, on”)
   1. at, to, toward
   2. on, up
   3. used to make certain intransitive verbs transitive

      ‎léien (“to tell a lie”) + ‎un- → ‎uléien (“to lie to someone”)

• The prefix is contracted to u- before non-alveolar consonants.

From un (“one, single”).

un-

1. uni-, mono-, one

From Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *ne (“not”). Cognate with Old Frisian un-, Old Saxon un-, Old Dutch un-, Old High German un-, Old Norse ó-, Gothic 𐌿𐌽- (un-). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), Latin in-, and Old Irish in-.

• IPA^(key): /un/

un-

1. negation or absence of: un-, non- (added to nouns and adjectives)

   ‎un- + ‎dēadlīċ (“mortal”) → ‎undēadlīċ (“immortal”)

   ‎un- + ‎dēop (“deep”) → ‎undēop (“shallow”)

   ‎un- + ‎dīere (“expensive”) → ‎undīere (“cheap”)

   ‎un- + ‎druncen (“drunk”) → ‎undruncen (“sober”)

   ‎un- + ‎fæġer (“beautiful”) → ‎unfæġer (“ugly”)

   ‎un- + ‎ġewǣpnod (“armed”) → ‎unġewǣpnod (“unarmed”)

   ‎un- + ‎nytt (“useful”) → ‎unnytt (“useless”)

   ‎un- + ‎sċyldiġ (“guilty”) → ‎unsċyldiġ (“innocent”)

   ‎un- + ‎rīpe (“mature”) → ‎unrīpe (“immature”)

   ‎un- + ‎wita (“knower”) → ‎unwita (“idiot”)

2. bad (added to nouns to denote a pejorative sense; compare mis-, mal-)

   ‎un- + ‎dǣd (“action”) → ‎undǣd (“crime”)

   ‎un- + ‎hlīsa (“fame”) → ‎unhlīsa (“infamy”)

   ‎un- + ‎lǣċe (“doctor”) → ‎unlǣċe (“quack”)

   ‎un- + ‎lyft (“air”) → ‎unlyft (“malaria,” lit. “bad air”)

   ‎un- + ‎mann (“person”) → ‎unmann (“thug”)

   ‎un- + ‎rǣd (“advice”) → ‎unrǣd (“bad advice”)

   ‎un- + ‎stenċ (“smell”) → ‎unstenċ (“stench”)

   ‎un- + ‎swefn (“dream”) → ‎unswefn (“bad dream”)

   ‎un- + ‎tīma (“time”) → ‎untīma (“wrong time”)

   ‎un- + ‎þēaw (“habit”) → ‎unþēaw (“vice”)

   ‎un- + ‎weder (“weather”) → ‎unweder (“bad weather”)

• (bad): yfel

• Middle English: un-
  • Scots: un-
  • English: un-

Originally an alternative form of on-, from Proto-Germanic *and-. Cognate with Old Frisian und-, Old Saxon ant-, Old High German ant- (German ent-).

• on-

• IPA^(key): /un/

un-

1. forms verbs from verbs, with an opposite or reversive sense

From Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-, a prefix use of the particle *ne (“not”). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), Latin in-, and Old Irish in-.

un-

1. un-; prefix of negation, absence or contrariness

• Old High German terms prefixed with un-

• Middle High German: un-
  • Alemannic German: o-, u-
  • German: un-
  • Luxembourgish: un-