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UN- (1),
negative prefix. (E.) Prefixed to substantives, adjectives,
and adverbs; distinct from the verbal prefix un- below. M. E.
un-.—A. S. un-; very common as a neg. prefix. + Du. on-.
+ Icel. ú- or ó- (for un-, the long u being due to loss of
n). +
Dan. u-. + Swed. o-. + Goth. un-. + G. un-. + W. an- (cf. Gael.
neo-). + Lat. in-. + Gk.
ἀν-,
ἀ-; orig.
ἀνα-; see Curtius, i. 381. + Zend.
ana- (Curtius); cf.
Pers. ná-. + Skt. an-. β. All from Aryan AN-, negative prefix, of
which the oldest form was prob. ANA (Curtius); see Fick, i. 484. γ.
If ANA is really the true orig. form, it is possible that Skt. na, not, is the
same word; cf. Lat. ne, not, Gk.
νη-, neg. prefix. Goth. ni, not, Russ.
ne-,
neg. prefix, Gael. neo-, neg. prefix, Lithuan. ne, no. B. It is unnecessary to
give all the words in which this prefix occurs; it is used before words of
various origin, both English and French. The following may be noted
in particular. 1. It occurs in words purely English, and appears in
many of these in Anglo-Saxon; Grein gives A. S. words, for example, answering to
un-clean, un-even, un-fair, un-whole, un-smooth, un-soft, un-still, un-wise.
Some compounds are now disused, or nearly so; such as un-bold, un-blithe,
un-little, un-right, un-sad, un-slow (all in Grein). In the case
of past participles, the prefix is ambiguous; thus un-bound
may either mean 'not bound,' like A. S. unbunden; or it may mean
'opened,' being taken as the pp. of unbind, verb. 2. Un-
is frequently prefixed to words of F. origin; examples such as unfeyned
(unfeigned) and un-stable occur in Chaucer; we even find un-famous
in House of Fame, iii. 56, where we should now say not famous.
Palsgrave has un-able, un-certayne, un-cortoyse (uncourteous), un-gentyll,
un-gracyous, un-honest, un-maryed, un-parfyte (imperfect), un-profytable,
un-raysonable (unreasonable). 3. In some cases, such as un-couth,
the simple word (without the prefix) is obsolete; such cases are discussed
below.
UN- (2),
verbal prefix, expressing the reversal of an action. (E.) In
the verb to un-lock, we have an example of this; it expresses the
reversal of the action expressed by lock; i.e. it means to open again
that which was closed by locking. This is quite distinct from the
mere negative prefix, with which many, no doubt, confound it. M. E. un-,
A. S. un-; only used as a prefix in verbs. + Du. ont-; as
in ont-laden, to unload, from laden, to load. + G. ent-, as
in ent-laden, to unload; O. H. G. ant-, as in ant-lúhhan,
to unlock. + Goth. and-, as in and-bindan, to unbind. β. It is
precisely the same prefix as that which appears as an- in E. an-swer, and as
and- in A. S. and-swarian; and it is cognate with Gk.
ἀντι-, used only in the
not very different sense of 'in opposition to;' thus, whilst E. un-say is to
reverse what is said, to deny it, the Gk.
ἀντι-λέγειν is to
with-say or gain-say, to deny what is said by others. See
Answer and
Anti-. B. It is unnecessary to give all the words with this prefix;
I may note that Grein gives the A. S. verb corresponding to E. un-do, viz.
undón;
also un-týnan, to unfasten, open, now obsolete; Bosworth gives unbindan, to
unbind, unfealdan, to unfold, unlúcan, to unlock, and a few others, but verbs
with this prefix are not very numerous in A. S. β. However, it was
so freely employed before verbs of French origin, that we have now many such
words in use; Palsgrave has un-arm, un-bend, un-boukell (unbuckle), un-bridle,
un-clasp, &c., with others that are obsolete, such as un-custume,
to disuse a custom. γ. The most common and remarkable of the mod. E.
verbs with this prefix are: un-bar, -bend, -bind, -bolt, -bosom, -brace,
-buckle, -burden, -button, -case, -chain, -clasp, -close, -clothe, -coil,
-couple, -cover, -curl, -deceive, -do, -dress, -earth, -fasten, -fetter, -fix,
-fold, -furl, -gird, -hand, -harness, -hinge, -hook, -horse, -house, -kennel,
-knit, -knot, -lace, -lade, -learn, -limber, -load, -lock, -loose, -make, -man,
-mask, -moor, -muffle, -muzzle, -nerve, -pack, -people, -ravel, -rig, -robe,
-roll, -roof, -root, -saddle, -say, -screw, -seal, -seat, -settle, -sex,
-shackle, -ship, -stop, -string, -thread, -tie, -tune, -twine, -twist, -warp,
-weave, -wind, -wrap, -yoke. See further under the simple
words. ¶ Note the ambiguity in the case of
past participles; for
which see under Un- (1).
UN- (3),
prefix. (O. Low G.) See Unto,
Until.
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