un-

From Middle English un-, from Old English 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

   ungrace (“lack of grace, gracelessness”)

   unrest (“a lack of rest (peace); war”)

   unhope (“despair”)

   unfriend (“enemy”)

   unrepair

   unluck (“misfortune”)

   unnova

   uncertainty (“lack or absence of certainty”)

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-.

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-Germanic *anda-, *andi- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti (“across, forth, forward, ahead”), from *h₂ént- (“end, limit, forehead”). More at and-.

un-

1. (added to verbs and nouns to form verbs) reverse, opposite

   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. release, free, remove, extract.

   to uncage — “to release from a cage”

   to untangle — “to remove the tangling of”

• Only certain words 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 or other effect.

• (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.

• -un-

• Definition of un- - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

• NU, Nu, nu

From Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.

• IPA^(key): /ʊn/, [ʔʊn]
• In compounds, 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

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

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

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

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

   ‎Wetter (“weather”) + ‎un- → ‎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

• IPA^(key): /un/

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

un-

1. (added to nouns and adjectives) negation, privation, or absence of
2. bad (used to denote a pejorative sense) (compare mis-, mal-)

   ‎un- + ‎dǣd (“action, deed, event, exploit”) → ‎undǣd (“un-deed, bad deed”)

   ‎un- + ‎lǣċe (“physician, doctor”) → ‎unlǣċe (“bad physician”)

3. (added to verbs) down

   ‎un- + ‎settan (“to set, establish, place, make”) → ‎unsettan (“to set down, put down”)

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

Originally identical with and-, from Proto-Germanic *and-. Cognate with Old Frisian und-, Old Saxon ant-, Old High German ant- (German ent-).

• on-

un-

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