Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “undeserved” come from?

Undeserved derives from English deserve with the prefix un-, ultimately tracing through Latin unus and Proto-Indo-European óynos to the root h₂ent-.

undeserved (English): Not deserved, earned or merited; unjustifiable or...

Definitions

  1. Not deserved, earned or merited; unjustifiable or...

Ancestry of “undeserved”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishUn-—
2Middle Englishun-—
3Old Englishun-negation or absence of: un-, non-; bad; forms...
4Proto-West Germanicun-not, un-
5Proto-Germanicun-not, un-
6Proto-Indo-Europeann̥-not, un-
7Proto-Indo-Europeannenot

Words derived from “undeserved”

  • undeservedly
  • undeservedness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ne →