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- ("not") plus eventful.

From un- + exist.

From un- ("not") plus expected, the past participle of expect.

From unexpected plus -ly.

From un- + expensive.

From un- ("not") plus explainable, from explain plus -able.

From un- ("not") plus explained, the past participle of explain.

From un- + explicit.

From un- ("not") plus exploded, the past participle of explode.

From un- ("not") plus explored, the past participle of explore.

From un- + eye + -able.

From Old English unfæger ("ugly"), from un- plus fair; the modern sense of "not just" developed later, replacing the original meaning of "unattractive."

From unfair plus -ly.

From Middle English unfeithful — simply un- (\"not\") added to faithful.

Formed from un- + familiar, going back through Old English un- to a Proto-Germanic negating prefix.

From un- + familiarity.

From un- + fashionable.

From un- + fasten.

From un- + fathom (originally, to measure the depth of water) + -able.

From un- + favor.

From un- + fazed.

From un- + feasible.

From un- + feeling.

From un- + fetter.

From un- + fettered — a fetter was originally a chain put around the ankles.

From un- + finished.

From unfinished + -ness.

From un- + fit.

From Middle English unfitting, equivalent to un- + fitting.

From un- + flagged, from flag (“piece of cloth”).

From un- + flagging.

From un- + flatter.

From un- + flattering.

From un- + flocked, from flock (“tufts of wool, lock of hair”).

From un- + flyable.

From un- + focused.

From Old English unfealdan, from un- + fold.

From un- + forbidden.

From un- + foreseen.

From un- + foreskinned.

unforestallable

From un- + forestallable.

From un- + forget + -able.

From un- + forgivable.

From un- + forgiving.

From un- + fortunate.

From unfortunate + -ly.

From un- + founded, as in "founded on" solid evidence.

From Middle English unfre, from Old English [Term?], from Proto-West Germanic *unfrī; cognates include Middle High German unfrī (German unfrei), Middle Low German unvrī, Middle Dutch onvri (Dutch onvrij). By surface analysis, un- + free.