Where does “unvarnished” come from?
Unvarnished comes from English varnished, Latin unus, and Proto-Indo-European óynos, ano-, ne, and h₂ent-, tracing the prefix un- meaning "not" back through ancient roots.
unvarnished (English): Not having been coated with varnish; Natural,...
Definitions
- Not having been coated with varnish; Natural,...
Ancestry of “unvarnished”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Un- | — |
| 2 | Middle English | un- | — |
| 3 | Old English | un- | negation or absence of: un-, non-; bad; forms... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | n̥- | not, un- |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ne | not |