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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
un-1
a 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).
[Origin: ME un-, on-, OE; c. D on-, Goth, G un-, ON ū-, ō-; akin to L in-, Gk an-, a-. See a-6, an-1, in-3]

—Synonyms See in-3.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
un-

To learn more about un- visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
un-2
a prefix freely used in English to form verbs expressing a reversal of some action or state, or removal, deprivation, release, etc. (unbend; uncork; unfasten; etc.), or to intensify the force of a verb already having such a meaning (unloose).
[Origin: ME, OE un-, on-; c. Goth and-, D ont-, G ent-; akin to L ante, Gk antí; cf. ante-, anti-]

—Note See un-1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un- 1  
pref.  
  1. Not: unhappy.
  2. Opposite of; contrary to: unrest.


[Middle English, from Old English; see ne in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: The negative prefix un- attaches chiefly to adjectives (unable, unclean, unequal, unripe, unsafe) and participles used as adjectives (unfeeling, unflinching, unfinished, unsaid), and less frequently to nouns (unbelief, unconcern, unrest). Sometimes the noun form of an adjective with the un- prefix has the prefix in-, as in inability, inequality, injustice, and instability. A few stems appear with both prefixes with distinctions of meaning. Inhuman means "brutal, monstrous," while unhuman means "not of human form, superhuman." · When used with adjectives, un- often has a sense distinct from that of non-. Non- picks out the set of things that are not in the category denoted by the stem to which it is attached, whereas un- picks out properties unlike those of the typical examples of the category. Thus nonmilitary personnel are those who are not members of the military, whereas someone who is unmilitary is unlike a typical soldier in dress, habits, or attitudes.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un- 2  
pref.  
  1. To reverse or undo the result of a specified action: unbind.
    1. To deprive of or remove a specified thing: unfrock.
    2. To release, free, or remove from: unyoke.
  3. Used as an intensive: unloose.


[Middle English, from Old English on-, alteration (influenced by un-, not) of ond-, and-, an-, against, opposing; see ant- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un-  (1)
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"). Freely 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un-  (2)
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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Wallstreet Words - Cite This Source - Share This

un

Used in stock transaction tables in newspapers to indicate unit shares: WebD un. Also called ut.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: un-
Function: prefix
1 : not <uncounseled>
2 : contrary to <unconstitutional>

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

un-

An"swer\, n. [OE. andsware, AS. andswaru; and against + swerian to swear. ?, ?. See Anti-, and Swear, and cf. 1st un-.]

1. A reply to a change; a defense.

At my first answer no man stood with me. --2 Tim. iv. 16.

2. Something said or written in reply to a question, a call, an argument, an address, or the like; a reply.

A soft answer turneth away wrath. --Prov. xv. 1.

I called him, but he gave me no answer. --Cant. v. 6.

3. Something done in return for, or in consequence of, something else; a responsive action.

Great the slaughter is Here made by the Roman; great the answer be Britons must take. --Shak.

4. A solution, the result of a mathematical operation; as, the answer to a problem.

5. (Law) A counter-statement of facts in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged; a responsive declaration by a witness in reply to a question. In Equity, it is the usual form of defense to the complainant's charges in his bill. --Bouvier.

Syn: Reply; rejoinder; response. See Reply.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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