UN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of UN

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/ən/ /jˈuˈɛn/ Listen

prefix

Un- pref. An inseparable verbal prefix or particle. It is prefixed:

(a)

To verbs to express the contrary, and not the simple negative, of the action of the verb to which it is prefixed; as in unbend, uncoil, undo, unfold.

(b)

To nouns to form verbs expressing privation of the thing, quality, or state expressed by the noun, or separation from it; as in unchild, unsex. Sometimes particles and participial adjectives formed with this prefix coincide in form with compounds of the negative prefix un- (see 2d Un-); as in undone (from undo), meaning unfastened, ruined; and undone (from 2d un- and done) meaning not done, not finished. Un- is sometimes used with an intensive force merely; as in unloose. Note: Compounds of this prefix are given in full in their proper order in the Vocabulary.

Un- pref. An inseparable prefix, or particle, signifying not; in-; non-. In- is prefixed mostly to words of Latin origin, or else to words formed by Latin suffixes; un- is of much wider application, and is attached at will to almost any adjective, or participle used adjectively, or adverb, from which it may be desired to form a corresponding negative adjective or adverb, and is also, but less freely, prefixed to nouns. Un- sometimes has merely an intensive force; as in unmerciless, unremorseless.

(a)

Un- is prefixed to adjectives, or to words used adjectively. Specifically:

(b)

To adjectives, to denote the absence of the quality designated by the adjective; as,

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Etymology of 'UN'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Un" Quotes from Famous Books

... am. You are not so bad a girl as I sus—no, you are a very good girl; and when I see you the Countess of Cullamore, I shall not have a single wish un-gratified." ...

— The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain - The Works of William Carleton, Volume One • William Carleton

... rejeter sans inconvenient. Elle n'est donc pas necessaire par sa nature.' Boswell in 1765 found that Paoli tortured a criminal with fire. Corsica, p. 158. Voltaire, in 1777, after telling how innocent men had been put to death with torture in the reign of Lewis XIV, continues—'Mais un roi a-t-il le temps de songer a ces menus details d'horreurs au milieu de ses fetes, de ses conquetes, et de ses mattresses? Daignez vous en occuper, o Louis XVI, vous qui n'avez aucune de ces distractions!' Voltaire's Works, xxvi. 332. Johnson, two ...

— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... des autels de Marie Nous ses enfants, empressons-nous; A cette Mere si cherie, Adressons les voeux les plus doux. Qu'une vive et sainte allegresse Nous anime dans ce saint jour; Il n'existe point de tristesse Pour un coeur plein de son amour. Ornons des fleurs ce sanctuaire, Parons son autel revere, Redoublons d'efforts pour lui plaire. Que ce mois lui soi, consacre; Que le parfume de ces couronnes Forme un encens delicieux, Qui s'elevant jusqu'a son trone, Lui porte et nos coeurs et nos ...

— Primitive Christian Worship • James Endell Tyler

... pur come e bello quel cavallo Leonardo Vinci a farli sol s'e mosso Statura bon pictore, e bon geometra Un tanto ...

— Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 • Julia Mary Cartwright

... justement apprcier ce savant si estimable par la profondeur et la varit de ses connaissances, si prcieux sa famille et ses amis par la puret et la simplicit de ses moeurs, en qui la vertu tait devenue une habitude et la bienfaisance un besoin." This work has never appeared and M. Tourneux thinks that nothing of it was found among M. Walferdin's papers. [2:2] In 1834 Mr. James Watson published in an English translation of the Systme de la Nature, A Short Sketch of the Life and the ...

— Baron d'Holbach - A Study of Eighteenth Century Radicalism in France • Max Pearson Cushing

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