Where does “unlucky” come from?
Unlucky derives from English un- plus lucky, which comes from Latin unus meaning "one," from Proto-Indo-European óynos, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European h₂ent-.
unlucky (English): Unfortunate, marked by misfortune; Inauspicious;...
Definitions
- Unfortunate, marked by misfortune; Inauspicious;...
Ancestry of “unlucky”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | lucky | Favoured by luck; fortunate; having good success... |
| 2 | Middle English | lukky | — |
| 3 | Middle English | y | Alternative form of I; Alternative form of in;... |
| 4 | Old English | iċ | I |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | ik | I |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *ek | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | éǵh₂ | I |
Words derived from “unlucky”