un- meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

un-

prefix

CA, US, UK /ʌn/ · AU /an/

Etymology 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-.

Morpheme not

Added to adjectives or past participles

un- + educated → uneducated (“not educated”)

Morpheme, Added to nouns lack of

un- + conformity → unconformity (“lack of conformity”)

Morpheme, Added to nouns contrary to traditional norms; unconventional

un- + conference → unconference

Synonyms: a-, an-, dys-, i-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, mal-, non-

un-

prefix

Etymology From Middle English on-, from Old English on-, 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”). In some cases the meaning is influenced by un- (“not”, etymology 1).

Morpheme, Added to verbs the inverse of a specified action

un- + dress → undress (“to take one's clothes off”)
un- + lock → unlock (“to undo the locking of”)

2 more examples

Un-cry these tears I cried so many nights Un-break my heart1996, “Un-Break My Heart”, in Secrets, performed by Toni Braxton:
A prefix is an affix that joins to the beginning of another word. Depending on the prefix, it can slightly or significantly alter the meaning of a word. For example, the English prefix “un-” changes a word into its opposite, as from “do” to “undo,” altering its meaning entirely.2020 March 14, Lindsay del Valle, “36 Spanish Prefixes That Will Increase Your Vocabulary Times 100!”, in Homeschool Spanish Academy:

Morpheme deprive of, release from, free from, remove from, extract from

Added to nouns to form verbs

un- + cage → uncage (“to release from a cage”)
un- + tangle → untangle (“to remove the tangling of”)

Morpheme, Rare intensifying a verb that already suggests opposition or removal

un- + loosen → unloosen
un- + decipher → undecipher

1 more example

un- + thaw → unthaw

Synonyms: anti-, in-, non-, de-, dis-, off-

un-

prefix

Etymology Borrowed from Latin ūnus.

Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Morpheme Used for the digit one to form systematic element names of elements whose existence has been predicted, and which have not yet been given a trivial name.

un- (“1”) + bi- (“2”) + un- (“1”) + -ium (element suffix) → unbiunium (“element 121”)

Morpheme Used to form large numbers as the first in the sequence.

un- + decillion (“10³³”) → undecillion (“10³⁶”)
un- + vigintillion (“10⁶³”) → unvigintillion (“10⁶⁶”)

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.