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 un- plus dignified.

From German Undine, from New Latin undīna, from Latin unda (“wave”).

From un- plus disciplined.

From un- ("not") plus disclosed, the past participle of disclose.

From un- ("not") plus discovered, the past participle of discover.

From un- ("not") plus disputed, the past participle of dispute.

From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + dissembled (“concealed, disguised; dissimulated, feigned”, adjective).

From un- ("not") plus disturbed, the past participle of disturb.

From un- ("not") plus divided, the past participle of divide.

From Old English ondōn, from a Germanic root meaning "to do the opposite of" — un- plus do.

From un- ("not") plus documented, the past participle of document.

From Middle English undoinge, formed from undo plus the suffix -ing.

Past participle form of undo, from un- plus do.

From un- + doomed.

From Middle English undoutedly, built from undoubted plus -ly.

From Middle English undressen, from un- plus dress; related to Old English unsċrȳdan, literally "to un-shroud."

From un- plus dressed, the past participle of dress.

From undress plus the suffix -ing.

From un- + drunken.

From un- ("not") plus due.

First attested in 1664; borrowed from New Latin undulātus, the perfect passive participle of undulō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from an unattested *undula (“small wave”), diminutive of Latin unda (“wave”).

From undulate + -ion, or borrowed from Medieval Latin undulātiō; compare French ondulation.

From undue plus -ly.

From un- ("not") plus dying, from die.

From Middle English unherthen, formed from un- plus earth.

From un- ("not") plus earthed, the past participle of earth (in the electrical sense).

From un- ("not") plus earthly.

From Middle English unese, from un- ("not") plus ease; related to disease.

From uneasy plus the suffix -ness.

From Middle English unesy, from un- plus easy; it later merged with the older word uneath, meaning "difficult."

From un- + eatable.

From Middle English unethe, uneathe (“difficult, not easy”), from Old English unēaþe (“difficult, not easy”). By surface analysis, un- + eath. See eath, easy for further. First attested in the Old English period.

From un- ("not") plus educated, the past participle of educate.

From un- ("not") plus employed, the past participle of employ.

From un- ("not") plus employment.

From un- + enchant.

From un- + encumbered.

From un- ("not") plus ending.

From Middle English *unendly, equivalent to un- + endly. Cognate with German unendlich.

From un- + enlightened.

From un- + enticing.

From Middle English unequale, from un- ("not") plus equal.

From un- ("not") plus equivocal, from Latin aequivocus ("having the same sound but different meaning").

From unequivocal plus -ly.

From un- + escapable.

From un- ("not") plus ethical.

From Old English unefen, meaning "unequal" or "irregular," from un- plus even.

From Middle English unevennesse, equivalent to uneven + -ness.