Found 1 items, similar to un-.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Un-
Un-
\Un-\ [OE. & AS. un-; akin to OFries. un-, D. on-, OS.,
OHG., & G. un-, Icel. [=o]-, [=u]-, Sw. o-, Dan. u-, W. an-,
L. in-, Gr. ?, ?, Skr. an-, a-. [root]193. Cf.
A- not
In-
not, No, adv.]
An inseparable prefix, or particle, signifying not; in-;
non-. In- is prefixed mostly to words of Latin origin, or
else to words formed by Latin suffixes; un- is of much wider
application, and is attached at will to almost any adjective,
or participle used adjectively, or adverb, from which it may
be desired to form a corresponding negative adjective or
adverb, and is also, but less freely, prefixed to nouns. Un-
sometimes has merely an intensive force; as in unmerciless,
unremorseless.
I . Un- is prefixed to adjectives, or to words used
adjectively. Specifically:
(a) To adjectives, to denote the absence of the quality
designated by the adjective;
(b) To past particles, or to adjectives formed after the
analogy of past particles, to indicate the absence of the
condition or state expressed by them;
(c) To present particles which come from intransitive verbs,
or are themselves employed as adjectives, to mark the
absence of the activity, disposition, or condition
implied by the participle;
Note: The above classes of words are unlimited in extent, and
such compounds may be formed by any writer or speaker
at will from almost all the adjectives or participles
in the language, excepting those which have a
recognized and usual negative correspondent with the
prefix -in. No attempt will be made, therefore, to
define them all in this Dictionary; many will be
omitted from its Vocabulary which are negations of the
simple word, and are readily explained by prefixing a
not to the latter. Derivatives of these words in -ly
and -ness will also, for the most part, be omitted for
the same or similar reasons.
There will be inserted as separate articles with
definitions, the following:
1. Those which have acquired an opposed or contrary,
instead of a merely negative, meaning; as, unfriendly,
ungraceful, unpalatable, unquiet, and the like; or else
an intensive sense more than a prefixed not would
express; as, unending, unparalleled, undisciplined,
undoubted, unsafe, and the like.
2. Those which have the value of independent words,
inasmuch as the simple words are either not used at
all, or are rarely, or at least much less frequently,
used; as, unavoidable, unconscionable, undeniable,
unspeakable, unprecedented, unruly, and the like; or
inasmuch as they are used in a different sense from the
usual meaning of the primitive, or especially in one of
the significations of the latter; as, unaccountable,
unalloyed, unbelieving, unpretending, unreserved, and
the like; or inasmuch as they are so frequently and
familiarly used that they are hardly felt to be of
negative origin; as, uncertain, uneven, and the like.
3. Those which are anomalous, provincial, or, for some
other reason, not desirable to be used, and are so
indicated; as, unpure for impure, unsatisfaction for
dissatisfaction, unexpressible for inexpressible, and
the like.
II . Un- is prefixed to nouns to express the absence of, or
the contrary of, that which the noun signifies; as,
unbelief, unfaith, unhealth, unrest, untruth, and the
like.
Note: Compounds of this last class are given in full in their
proper order in the Vocabulary.
[1913 Webster]
Un-
\Un-\ [OE. un-, on-, the unaccented form of the accented
prefix and- (cf.
Answer); akin to D. ont-, G. ent-, OHG.
int-, Goth. and-. See
Anti-.]
An inseparable verbal prefix or particle. It is prefixed:
(a) To verbs to express the contrary, and not the simple
negative, of the action of the verb to which it is
prefixed; as in uncoil, undo, unfold.
(b) To nouns to form verbs expressing privation of the thing,
quality, or state expressed by the noun, or separation
from it; as in unchild, unsex. Sometimes particles and
participial adjectives formed with this prefix coincide
in form with compounds of the negative prefix un- (see 2d
Un-); as in undone (from undo), meaning unfastened,
ruined; and undone (from 2d un- and done) meaning not
done, not finished. Un- is sometimes used with an
intensive force merely; as in unloose.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Compounds of this prefix are given in full in their
proper order in the Vocabulary.
[1913 Webster]