un-

Part of speech: prefix
IPA: /un/
Syllables: un (1 syllable)

un-1 · prefix

Senses

negation or absence of: un-, non- (added to nouns and adjectives)
un- + dēadlīċ (“mortal”) → undēadlīċ (“immortal”)
bad (added to nouns to denote a pejorative sense; compare mis-, mal-)
un- + dǣd (“action”) → undǣd (“crime”)

un-2 · prefix

Senses

forms verbs from verbs, with an opposite or reversive sense

Etymology

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

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

Descendants

un-

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/un- · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution