un-

I. prefix Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German un- un-, Latin in-, Greek a-, an-, Old English ne not — more at no 1. not ; in-, non- — in adjectives formed from adjectives <

unambitious

> <

unskilled

> or participles <

undressed

>, in nouns formed from nouns <

unavailability

>, and rarely in verbs formed from verbs <

unbe

> — sometimes in words that have a meaning that merely negates that of the base word and are thereby distinguished from words that prefix in- or a variant of it (as im-) to the same base word and have a meaning positively opposite to that of the base word <

unartistic

> <

unmoral

> 2. opposite of ; contrary to — in adjectives formed from adjectives <

unconstitutional

> <

ungraceful

> <

unmannered

> or participles <

unbelieving

> and in nouns formed from nouns <

unrest

> II. prefix Etymology: Middle English, from Old English un-, on-, alteration of and- against — more at ante- 1. do the opposite of ; reverse (a specified action) ; de- 1a, dis- 1a — in verbs formed from verbs <

unbend

> <

undress

> <

unfold

> 2. a. deprive of ; remove (a specified thing) from ; remove — in verbs formed from nouns <

unfrock

> <

unsex

> b. release from ; free from — in verbs formed from nouns <

unhand

> c. remove from ; extract from ; bring out of — in verbs formed from nouns <

unbosom

> d. cause to cease to be — in verbs formed from nouns <

unman

> 3. completely <

unloose

>