| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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8. Word Formation: Plurals, Possessives, Affixes, and Compounds
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| § 53. un- |
| There are two prefixes spelled un- in English. Both go back to Old English. One has the basic meaning “not.” Thus unhappy means “not happy.” This un- chiefly attaches to adjectives, as in unable, unclean, unequal, uneven, unripe, and unsafe. It also attaches to adjectives made of participles, as in unfeeling, unflinching, unfinished, and unsaid. Less frequently, this same prefix attaches to nouns: unbelief, unconcern, unrest. | 1 |
| The other un- is not related, despite its origin in Old English. It forms verbs and expresses removal, reversal, or deprivation: undress, unravel, unnerve. | 2 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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