Where does “un” come from?

un (Limburgish) comes from Middle Dutch uyen, from Old French oignon, from Latin ūniō, from Latin -iō, from Proto-West Germanic -jō, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.

un (Limburgish): onion

Definitions

  1. onion

Ancestry of “un”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Dutchuyen
2Old Frenchoignononion
3Latinūniōa unity, union
4Latin-iō
5Proto-West Germanic-jōForms agent nouns from verbs
6Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-
8Chichewaiyehe, she
Every word from Chichewa iye