English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

"U" Word Origins

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

“U” Word Origins

From Middle English unberable, from un- + bearable.

From unbearable + -ly or un- + bearably.

From un- + beat + -able.

From Middle English on bete, unbeten, unibeten; equivalent to un- + beaten; compare Old English ungebeitne (“unhewn”).

From Middle English unbewtefull; equivalent to un- + beautiful.

From un- + becoming (in the old sense of "fitting" or "suitable").

From un- + begot.

From Middle English unbegunne, unbegunnon, unbigonne, unbigunnen, unbigunnon, unnbigunnenn, from Old English unbegunnen; equivalent to un- + begun.

A variant of the older word "unbeknown," with an extra "-st" added the same way it was tacked onto words like "amongst" and "amidst."

From un- + believable.

From un- + believer, perhaps a corruption of earlier wanbeliever (“unbeliever”).

From un- + bellicose.

From Middle English unbenden, equivalent to un- + bend.

From un- + bending.

From un- + bested.

From un- + bewitch.

From un- + biblical.

From Middle English unbinden, from Old English unbindan, onbindan (“to unbind; untie”), from Proto-West Germanic *andabindan, from Proto-Germanic *andabindaną, equivalent to un- + bind. Cognate with Dutch ontbinden, German entbinden, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌱𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (andbindan).

From un- + bless.

From un- + block.

From un- + blouse.

From un- + blue.

From un- + bolt.

From un- + bonneted.

From Old English unboren, simply un- + born — it has meant "not yet born" for well over a thousand years.

From un- + bosom (“the seat of emotions”).

Inherited from Northern Middle English unbowsom (non-Northern unbuxom); equivalent to un- + bowsome or buxom.

Built from un- + break + -able — literally "not able to be broken."

From un- + breed.

From un- + bridled — a bridle controls a horse, so "unbridled" originally meant a horse with no bridle on, free to run wherever it liked.

From Old English unġebrocen, from un- + broken.

From un- + buildable.

From un- + burden — to remove a burden.

From Middle English unburien, unbirien, from Old English *unbyrġan (compare Old English unbyrġed (“unburied”)), equivalent to un- + bury.

From un- + busied.

From Middle English unbotonen, from un- + button.

From un- + buttoned.

From un- + buxom.

A clipped, slang form of "uncle."

From un- + calculating.

From un- + called.

From un- (reversive prefix) + camp.

From un- + canny ("knowing, familiar") — literally "beyond what is familiar or knowable." The related noun sense translates Sigmund Freud's German term unheimlich, popularised in his 1919 essay "Das Unheimliche."

From un- + canonize.

From un- + caring.

From un- + case.

From un- + cast.

From un- + ceasing.