Where does “un-” come from?

un- (German) comes from Middle High German un-, from Old High German un-, from Proto-West Germanic un-, from Proto-Germanic un-, from Proto-Indo-European n̥-, from Proto-Indo-European ne — not.

un- (German): un-; grave; bad; horrifying

Definitions

  1. un-; grave; bad; horrifying

Ancestry of “un-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanun-—
2Old High Germanun-un-; prefix of negation, absence or contrariness
3Proto-West Germanicun-not, un-
4Proto-Germanicun-not, un-
5Proto-Indo-Europeann̥-not, un-
6Proto-Indo-Europeannenot

Words derived from “un-”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ne →