Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “unhygienic” come from?

Unhygienic is the English negative form of hygienic, which derives from French hygiénique, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European h₂ent- meaning "being" or "existing."

unhygienic (English): Lacking hygiene; unclean

Definitions

  1. Lacking hygiene; unclean

Ancestry of “unhygienic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishUn-—
2EnglishstillNot moving; calm; Not effervescing; not...
3Old Englishstillanbecome calm, abate, subside; calm, pacify,...
4Proto-West Germanicstillijanto make still, quiet
5Proto-West Germanic-janCreates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates...
6Proto-Germanic-janąDerives denominatives from nouns and factitives...
7Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
8Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
9Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “unhygienic”

  • unhygienically
Every word from Chichewa iye →