Nearby Words
un-
1a prefix meaning “not,” freely used as an English formative, giving negative or opposite force in adjectives and their derivative adverbs and nouns (unfair; unfairly; unfairness; unfelt; unseen; unfitting; unformed; unheard-of; un-get-at-able), and less freely used in certain other nouns (unrest; unemployment).
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Un-
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
un-
2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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|
Link To Un-
Collins
World English Dictionary
| un-1 | |
| —prefix | |
| (freely used with adjectives, participles, and their derivative adverbs and nouns: less frequently used with certain other nouns) not; contrary to; opposite of: uncertain; uncomplaining; unemotionally; untidiness; unbelief; unrest; untruth | |
| [from Old English on-, un-; related to Gothic on-, German un-, Latin in-] | |
| un-2 | |
| —prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives | |
| 1. | denoting reversal of an action or state: uncover; untangle |
| 2. | denoting removal from, release, or deprivation: unharness; unman; unthrone |
| 3. | (intensifier): unloose |
| [from Old English un-, on-; related to Gothic and-, German ent-, Latin ante] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
un-
prefix of negation, O.E. un-, from P.Gmc. *un- (cf. O.Fris., O.H.G., Ger. un-, Goth. un-, Du. on-), from PIE *n- (cf. Skt. a-, an- "not," Gk. a-, an-, O.Ir. an-, L. in-), a variant of PIE base *ne- "not" (cf. Avestan na, O.C.S., Lith. ne "not," L. ne "that not," Gk. ne- "not," O.Ir. ni, Corn. ny "not").
EXPANDFreely and widely used since O.E. times in compounds with native and imported words, it disputes with Latin-derived cognate in- the right to form the negation of certain words (indigestable/undigestable, etc.). Often euphemistic (e.g. untruth for "lie"). The most prolific of Eng. prefixes, it even is used to make words from phrases (e.g. uncalled-for, 1610; undreamed-of, 1636; uncome-at-able, 1694; unputdownable, 1947, of a book). As a prefix in telegram-ese to replace not and save the cost of a word, it is first attested 1936.
un-
prefix of reversal (e.g. unhand, undo, unbutton), O.E. on-, un-, from P.Gmc. *andi- (cf. O.S. ant-, O.N. and-, Du. ont-, O.H.G. ant-, Ger. ant-, Goth. and- "against"), from PIE *anti "facing opposite, near, in front of, before" (see ante).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
un- 1
pref.
Not: unmyelinated.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Word Dynamo Rating For Un-
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