un-
/ʌn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.62 in modern English
2
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
2
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
prefix
not
prefix
lack of
prefix
prefix
intensifying a verb that already suggests opposition or removal
Example Sentences
- "un- + educated → uneducated (“not educated”)"
- "un- + conformity → unconformity (“lack of conformity”)"
- "un- + conference → unconference"
- "un- + dress → undress (“to take one's clothes off”)"
- "un- + lock → unlock (“to undo the locking of”)"
- "Un-cry these tears I cried so many nights Un-break my heart"
Etymology
From Middle English un-, from Old English un-, from Proto-West Germanic *un-, from Proto-Germanic *un-, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-. Cognate with Scots un-, on- (“un-”), North Frisian ün-, Saterland Frisian uun-, West Frisian ûn-, on-, Dutch on-, Low German un-, on-, German un-, Danish u-, Swedish o-, Norwegian u-, Icelandic ó-. More distant cognate with Latin in-, Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) (whence English a-, modern Greek α- (a-)) and Sanskrit अ- (a-). Doublet of in- and a-.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʌn/
- British English: /ʌn/