Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “unsafe” come from?

Unsafe derives from English safe, which comes from Latin salvus meaning "whole" or "unharmed," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "whole" or "intact."

unsafe (English): Not safe ; dangerous

Definitions

  1. Not safe ; dangerous

Ancestry of “unsafe”, 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 “unsafe”

  • unsafely
  • unsafeness
Every word from Chichewa iye →