Where does “uncouth” come from?
Uncouth comes from Middle English uncouth, from Old English uncūþ meaning "unknown," from Proto-Germanic unkunþaz, combining the negation prefix un- with a root from Proto-Indo-European ǵen- meaning "to know or produce."
uncouth (English): Unfamiliar, strange, foreign; Clumsy, awkward;...
Definitions
- Unfamiliar, strange, foreign; Clumsy, awkward;...
Ancestry of “uncouth”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | uncouth | — |
| 2 | Old English | uncūþ | unknown; unfamiliar; strange |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *unkunþ | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | unkunþaz | unknown |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | n̥- | not, un- |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ne | not |
Words derived from “uncouth”