Where does “uncouth” come from?
uncouth (Middle English) comes from Old English uncūþ, from Proto-West Germanic *unkunþ, from Proto-Germanic unkunþaz, from Proto-Germanic un-, from Proto-Indo-European n̥-, from Proto-Indo-European ne — not.
Ancestry of “uncouth”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | uncūþ | unknown; unfamiliar; strange |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *unkunþ | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | unkunþaz | unknown |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | n̥- | not, un- |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ne | not |
Words derived from “uncouth”