Where does “un-” come from?

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

un- (Proto-West Germanic): not, un-

Definitions

  1. not, un-

Ancestry of “un-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanicun-not, un-
2Proto-Indo-Europeann̥-not, un-
3Proto-Indo-Europeannenot

Words derived from “un-”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ne →Every word from Proto-Indo-European n̥- →Every word from Proto-Germanic un- →