English Explanatory Dictionary

un-

English dictionary entry

Meanings

prefix
  1. not
  2. lack of
  3. contrary to traditional norms; unconventional
prefix
  1. the inverse of a specified action
  2. deprive of, release from, free from, remove from, extract from
  3. intensifying a verb that already suggests opposition or removal
prefix
  1. 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.
  2. Used to form large numbers as the first in the sequence.

Pronunciation

/ʌn/ en-us-un-.ogg /an/

Word forms

un- on-

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-.

Synonyms

a- an- dys- i- il- im- in- ir- mal- non- de- dis- off- anti-

Translations

Armenian: ապ- Dutch: ont- Esperanto: mal- French: dé- French: dés- Galician: des- German: ent- Greek: απο- Icelandic: af- Italian: s- Norwegian Bokmål: av- Norwegian Bokmål: unn- Norwegian Bokmål: opp Polish: od- Portuguese: des- Spanish: des- Swedish: av-
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