expressing reversal or deprivation, representing OE. un-, on-, = OFris. und-, unt-, un-, ond-, ont-, on-, MDu. and Du. ont-, OS. ant-, OHG. ant-, int- (MHG. and G. ent-), Goth. ana-, originally identical with AND- prefix.
2. From OE. more than a score of reversive verbs formed with un- (or its variant on-) are recorded, as unbindan, uncnyttan, undón, unfealdan, ungyrdan, unhelian, unlúcan, etc. Some of these were in common use; others occur rarely or in single instances. About half of the number (including all those mentioned above) survived in ME., and various new formations appear in texts from the first half of the 13th century, as unbenden, undytten, unfast(n)en, unhaspen, unhillen, unlimen, unmensken, unsteken; even at that date the prefix is used with verbs that are not of native origin. Similar formations from later ME. are unbuckle, uncatch, unclench, uncover, unfetter, unkevel, unsew, unshut, unwrap, unyoke. The following are examples of obsolete ME. forms:—unha·dien [OE. unhádian], to deprive of ecclesiastical orders; unme·nsken [f. MENSK v.], to dishonor; unro·ne [f. RONE v.], to make desolate; hence unro·ningness; unteo·n [f. teon TEE v.1 6 b], to fall apart.
c. 1205. Lay., 13169. Buten he him plihte þæt he wolden vorð rihtes *vnhadien [v.r. onhodi] Costanz. Ibid., 13174. Þar he vnhadede his broðer.
a. 1200. St. Marher., 14. Heanlunges makeð ham wið heouenlich hirð ant *unmenskeð hamseolf bimong eorðlich men.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter lxxviii. 7. For þai ete Jacob ilka lim, And *yproned þe stede of him. Ibid., lxxii. 19. Hou ere þai made in vnronyngnesse!
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., 101. The fleyhs shal rotie from the bon, The senewes *untuen everuchon.
b. In the 16th century new formations with un- become very numerous and varied, and in the 17th the prefix is used with much greater freedom than is now possible. The lexicographers Florio and Cotgrave constantly employ it in rendering Italian words in dis- and s- and French words in de-, des-. By this time the prefix had developed several variations of sense which are still current, and are illustrated by modern examples in the following sections.
3. In OE. most of the forms with un- have for their second part a simple verb, either strong (as unbindan, unfealdan, unlúcan, etc.) or weak (as uncnyttan, undón, unʓierwan, ungyrdan, etc.). In either case the prefix denotes a simple reversal of the action of the verb. Many of the new formations in ME. are of the same type, as unbend, unclench, uncover, unfasten, unhasp, unhide, unshut, etc., and additions to this class continue to be freely made at all subsequent periods. In addition to the numerous examples entered as main words, many others have been casually employed, similar to those here illustrated.
Florio and Cotgrave make extensive use of this type, e.g., unastony, unbrand, uncancel, unclumse, unclutter, uncompass, uncurd, unfester, unflow, etc. Ash gives unbaste, unmoble, unsolder, unsort, etc.
1865. Sat. Rev., 9 Sept., 330/2. A boisterous English captain … annexed them for a few weeks, and then had to *unannex them.
1838. [Mrs. Maitland], Lett. fr. Madras (1843), 223. You had betrayed his intention…. You tried to *un-betray it afterwards,… but in vain.
1862. De Morgan, in Graves, Life Sir W. R. Hamilton (1889), III. 576. My belief is, that if you call h and k differentials, the community … will *uncall them.
1774[?]. Monody Death Goldsmith, 13, G.’s Wks. (1816), p. li. Thus some magician … *Uncears the pond’rous tombs.
1886. Pall Mall G., 22 Dec., 2/2. When he has changed his mind no power on earth can induce him to *unchange it.
1888. J. C. Ambrose, in Union Signal (Chicago), 19 April. The first hard work … on butter is to *unchurn it.
1891. M. Cole, Cy Ross, 12. Pull up for the night, *uncinch the packs.
1859. Semple, Diphtheria, 316. Is this leading circumstance … sufficient to make us *unclassify this disease?
1851. W. R. Greg, Creed of Christendom, xvi. 268. That everything done is done irrevocably—that even the Omnipotence of God cannot *uncommit a deed.
1860. Trollope, Framley P., xvii. Do no such thing, or you may too probably have to *uncongratulate me again.
1775. Ash, *Uncrook..., to reduce from crookedness.
1868. E. Yates, Rocks Ahead, III. vii. I could hardly uncrook your fingers.
1898. B. Gregory, Side Lights Confl. Meth., 205. He [Mr. Bromley] … cannot possibly afford to *undecree his own infallibility.
1885. S. Tromholt, Aurora Borealis, II. 20. She looked as if she had never *undonned her funny garb since I saw her last.
1825. Coleridge, Aids Refl. (1848), I. 288. To break this sensual charm, to *unfascinate these bedazzled brethren.
1818. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 527. To unthink their present thoughts and *unfeel their present feelings!
1862. [W. Cooper], Yacht Sailor, xi. 142. The only perfect self-acting fid I ever saw … ‘fids’ and *‘unfids’ itself.
1873. Miss Broughton, Nancy, II. 241. I have my flax hair … curled, plaited, frizzed, and again *unfrizzed.
1891. Zangwill, Bachelors’ Club, 35. His brow began to *unfurrow itself.
1883. Century Mag., Oct., 946/2. We could see them all busy *ungriping their lee boat.
1896. E. Berdoe, Browning & Chr. Faith, 180. He … is proud that it is not in him to *unhate his hates.
1889. Blackw. Mag., Oct., 456. It was unprecedented that … a weak hysterical subject should, after being *unhypnotised, remain so long in prostrate exhaustion.
1844. Noad, Electricity (ed. 2), 69. *Uninsulating the ball, insulating it, and then observing what change it had acquired.
1888. Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., *Uninterleave, to withdraw the sheets which have been placed between printed work to prevent set-off.
1839. J. Sterling, Ess. & T. (1848), I. 327. Self is thus … dis-individualized, *unisolated, rather universalized and idealized.
1775. Ash, *Unjamb,… to free from a pressure between two bodies.
1900. Daily News, 7 March, 8/7. The gun … jammed less than any other machine gun, and could be easily unjammed.
1888. Lees & Clutterbuck, B. C., xxviii. (1892), 314. Presently … the monster had *unkilled himself … and swam happily away.
1611. Florio, Dismentire, to *vnlie.
1882. Ch. Times, 10 Feb., 83. It is hardly necessary to ‘unlie’ the insinuation, as the French would say.
1845. P. Parley’s Ann., VI. 361. How long it took to *unmat their hair.
1887. Pall Mall G., 19 Oct., 2/1. To *unmesmerize all those Christians whom the devil has mesmerized.
1809. Ann. Reg., Chron., 339/2. For heaven’s sake, do not be *unmodelling my accounts again.
1817. Pettigrew, Mem. Lettsom, II. 230. Let any person … *unprejudice his mind.
1844. Whewell, in Life (1881), 308. Having puzzled and *unpuzzled myself.
1889. Saintsbury, Ess. Eng. Lit. (1891), 31. You could play on Crabbe that odd trick … and *unrhyme him.
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., *Unslour, to unlock, unfasten, or unbutton.
1860. Nares, Seamanship, 112. *Unsnatch and shift the mast rope.
1887. in Prothero, Life of Bradshaw (1888), 78. Some one *‘unsported’ him with a dinner-knife.
1833. Fraser’s Mag., VIII. 309. It *unsquatted the incubus which so long oppressed me.
1856. J. Strang, Glasgow & Clubs, 395. To *unswing a golden fleece was a common trick.
1869. Abbot, Shaks. Gram., Pref. So far from training we are *untraining our understanding.
1896. Globe, 19 Dec., 1/4. It would have been as easy to take the stripes as to *unwhip those boys.
4. A small number of OE. verbs in un- imply removal or deprivation; these end in -ian, as unhádian to deprive of orders, unhlidian to remove the lid from, uninseʓlian to unseal, unscóʓian to unshoe. In ME. the type remains rare, but occurs in unclead, unclothe, unhair. At a later date it becomes more frequent, and is common in modern use.
Florio is especially lavish in new formations that have not obtained subsequent currency, as unblossom, unbrain, unbridge, uncheek, uncheese, uncorn, uncorner, unflank, unfringe, ungarland, etc.
1882. R. G. Ingersoll, etc., Chr. Relig., 44. Cradles would be robbed, and women’s breasts *unbabed.
1798. Ferriar, Illustr. Sterne, i. 8. In like manner, *unbolster Falstaff and his wit will affect us less.
1836. T. Hook, G. Gurney, II. 260. I found the task of *‘unbooting’ one of much greater difficulty than I had anticipated.
1886. Pall Mall G., 2 Dec., 6. A native *unbraceleting or ungartering himself.
1611. Cotgr., Desbrodequiner, to *vnbuskin; to plucke, or draw, off buskins.
1831. Soc. Life Eng. & France, 198. Some subsequent attempts to unbuskin tragedy.
1611. Cotgr., Escremé, *vncreamed.
1886. Pall Mall G., 28 Sept., 11/2. Adulterated or uncreamed … milk.
1826. Beddoes, Lett. to B. Procter, Poems (1851), 170. To rob him,—to *uncypress him in the light—To unmask all his secrets.
1874. S. Lanier, Poems, Corn, 190. Discrowned, *undaughtered, and alone.
1846. Landor, Imag. Conv., Wks. I. 144/2. The chalice of poison,… by which their own hands were … *undirked, and paralysed.
1855. Bailey, Mystic, etc., 127. He, to his fate divine, *uneyes himself in vain.
1878. J. W. Reynolds, Supernat. in Nat. (1880), 4. To *unfaith men takes from them everything which can preserve from evil and lead to good.
1859. Sala, Gas-light & D., v. 62. He would … run down the doomed legisiator…, and … *unfrank him on the spot.
1829. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), I. 84. That the man … who goes to bed a freeholder, does not wake *unfreeholded on the morrow.
1791. Lady Hamilton, in Gamlin, Romney (1894), 223. The little picture with the black hat. I wish you would *unfrill it.
1897. F. Thompson, Sel. Poems, 125. She … Her hand *ungauntlets in mild amity.
1861. Temple Bar Mag., III. 197. A hand of light *Unjewelleth the robe of night.
1821. Sporting Mag., IX. 51. Both were *unmettled by fast work.
1804. Larwood, No Gun Boats, 10. Let England *unpoignard her Dwarf Assassins.
1852. R. Redgrave, in Life, iv. (1891), 83. Here we were disobed and *unsashed.
1888. ‘B. Cane,’ Haunted Tower, 307. He had *unspiled the water-cask.
1865. Wilberforce, in Life (1882), III. 189. If he did not *unsurplice his choir and degrade his service to their Dissenting level.
1839. Hood, Lines to Friend at Cobham, iii. Of hen and cock you’ll have a stock, And death will oft *unthrob ’em.
1808. E. S. Barrett, Miss-led General, 69. We must either embowel them, or they will *untripe us.
1889. Talmage, Serm., 28 April. God is not dead. The chariots are *unwheeled.
b. A modification of this sense is that of freeing or releasing from something. This appears in ME. in unfetter, unkevel, unyoke, although in origin these may be simply reversive. In the later period the type has also become common, and is very largely represented from the close of the 16th century.
Florio and Cotgrave afford numerous examples, as unbarb, unbit, unbunch, unchaff, uncrupper, ungravel, unhunger, etc.
1899. T. S. Moore, Vinedresser, 74. His sword fell noisy to the ground While he *unbrooched his cloak.
1888. F. H. Stoddard, in Andover Rev., Oct. [Matthew] Arnold has *un-Coleridged criticism.
1839. in Marindin, Lett. Ld. Blachford (1896), 57. I can’t fancy any more magnificent practice for a fidgety person who wanted to be *unfidgeted.
1839. Bailey, Festus, 118. When heaven’s light Pours itself on the page,… *unglooming all its mighty meanings.
1868. Earl Clarendon, in Life & Lett. (1913), II. xxiii. 355. I wish he were *unhandcuffed from the party with which he can have no sympathy.
1881. Cheq. Career, 335. *Unhobble the spare horses.
1888. Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., *Unlead, to take out the leads from leaded matter.
1814. Scott, Wav., lvi. *Unplaid yourself on the first opportunity.
1840. R. H. Horne, Gregory VII., IV. v. 74. It is his change That hath *unscarfed mine eyes.
1800. Naval Chron., IV. 523. The labourers … *unshored the St. Joseph … in the great dock.
1878. A. H. Markham, Gt. Frozen Sea, xviii. 257. ‘Woolwich’ was also *‘unsnowed.’
1832. Regul. & Instr. Cavalry, II. 43. The men … strap and *unswivel their carbines.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 387. If it is impracticable to accomplish both, the oats should be left *unthistled rather than the barley.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 280. To devote the rest of his evening … to *unthorning himself.
1845. T. W. Coit, Puritanism, 237. *Untrammeling human opinion and human will.
1815. T. Shuffleton, Amat. Wks., 116. *Unzone the veil! produce the prize Which long has charm’d my roving eyes!
5. The use of un- to denote the removal or extraction (forcibly or otherwise) of a person or thing from a place or receptacle occurs in the 14th cent. in unhouse, and later in unbody, unearth, but does not become prominent till the beginning of the 17th, when Florio and Cotgrave afford many examples. In a few instances the sense passes into that of releasing or setting free from confinement, as in uncage, or of revealing to others, as in unbosom.
Among the instances occurring in Florio and Cotgrave are unaerie, unbench, unborough, unbrake, unbranch, unchamber, unchest, unfurnace, etc.
1865. E. Burritt, Walk to Land’s End, 375. Then he *unbasketed our dinner.
1897. Outing, XXIX. 491/1. The request that a number of soldiers be sent back to *unbog the wagon.
1822. W. Tennant, Thane of Fife, VI. xxiii. He … had *uncav’d his jars to heave their spirits up.
1883. H. Drummond, Nat. Law in Spir. W., i. (1884), 30. To do that, and rest in the contemplation, it has first to *uncentury itself.
1859. Sala, Tw. round Clock (1861), 228. I fear the awful committee that … can *unclub a man for a few idle words inadvertently spoken.
1870. T. W. Higginson, Army Life, 195. She shouted with delight at being suddenly *uncribbed and thrust into her little scarlet cloak.
1851. G. W. Curtis, Nile Notes, xxv. 112. The cavalcade was magically *undonkeyed, the savages … tumbled off, while their beasts were yet in full motion.
1888. Public Opinion, 29 June, 811. Hearing that a mammoth had been unearthed, or rather *uniced, near the mouth of the Lena.
1883. Daily News, 18 Sept., 3/3. Until the furniture and other articles … stored hastily … have been *unstored and examined.
1846. Landor, Imag. Conv., Wks. II. 45/1. All her wars for six hundred years have not done this; and the first trumpet will *untrance her.
1884. Law Rep., 12 Chanc. Div. 631. No offence was committed until the pigs were *untrucked, and the appellants had … no part in untrucking them.
b. In some formations belonging to this type un- is prefixed to a word either denoting the thing removed or the action of removal; in the latter case the sense of the prefix passes into that of out. Examples of these uses are:—
1598. Florio, Sbacciellare,… to vngraine, or take out of the cods.
1611. Cotgr., Escerner, to vnkernell; to take or cut a thing cleane out of the round place wherein it was.
1877. Talmage, Serm., 316. He it is who undirks the lightning from the storm cloud.
6. In OE. the fact or process of depriving a person or thing of a certain quality or property was not expressed by the reversive un-, but by verbal formations based on adjectives already having the negative prefix (see UN-1 14), Unable, appearing towards the end of the 14th cent., may still belong to this type, but from the middle of the 16th century forms become frequent in which the prefix is clearly the reversive un-, employed both with adjs. and sbs. Both types are largely represented in Florio, and to a less extent in Cotgrave. a. When the formation has an adjectival base, the adjective may be used in its simple form, or with the suffix -en.
Examples from Florio and Cotgr. of the simple adj. form are unbald, unbig, uncorrect, undizzy, ungiddy, unhoar, etc.; and of forms in -en, unfatten, ungreaten, unmoisten, unsharpen, unthicken, unweaken.
1888. Ruskin, in Pall Mall G., 27 Oct., 5/2. Rosalind is extremely glad to get her face *unbrowned again.
1893. Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 19 Sept. They found … the shops ill-regulated and the Frenchmen *un-Frenched.
1827. Hare, Guesses (1859), 488. You may abuse and misuse: you cannot *ungood.
1747. E. Poston, Pratler, I. 223. Thy Brother … almost had the Name undone, And almost did *ungrand it.
1825. Southey, Lett. to Mrs. S., 7 July. Freshmen are called greens, and a ceremony was (and perhaps is) used in *ungreening them.
1827. O’Connell, Lett., in Daily News, 17 Dec. (1888), 3/6. I will *un-Orange Ireland.
1887. Browning, Parleyings, F. Furim, i. Straight your bag *Unplumped itself.
1826. Scott, 19 March, in Croker Papers. If you *unscotch us you will find us damned mischievous Englishmen.
b. Substantives are similarly employed without ending.
Florio has a number of examples, as unbride, uncitizen, uncoward, undoctor, undwarf, etc. Casual formations are frequently employed by Fuller, as uncardinal, unchaplain, uncity, unmartyr, etc.
1867. Sir J. Y. Simpson, in Duns, Mem., xiv. (1873), 482. Often I wish I could *unbaronet myself.
1839. J. D. Coleridge, in Life Ld. Coleridge (1904), I. 71. Herman Merivale *unbeared himself for five minutes.
1800. Mackintosh, in R. Hall’s Wks. (1832), VI. 129. They ought not to *uncitizen Tom Paine.
1797. Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Beggar Girl (1813), V. 94. Recollections, unsupported by proofs, could neither *uncountess her nor rob her of the adoration her beauty excited.
1857. Heavysege, Saul (1869), 145. It me *unfiends to see and listen to him.
1860. Reade, 8th Commandm., 24. It would be ‘nefas’ to *ungenius our geniuses.
1889. Talmage, Serm., in Voice (N. Y.), 31 Oct. Every day there are Samsons *ungianted.
1870. C. W. Collins, Anc. Classics for Eng. Readers, Virg., 182. An occasional burst of tears on Æneas’s part would not have *unheroed him in our estimation one whit.
1839. J. Rogers, Antipopopr., i. § 7. 87. They unavoidably fancy all other kirks to be no real or right kirks at all, *unkirking them.
1860. Milman, in Archaeol., XXXVIII. 22. The remedy applicable to the condition of the Marches of Mercia and Wales was … to reduce and, so far, *unmarch them.
1865. J. Grote, Explor. Philos., I. 229. This … is described first as seeing nature in masquerade, and then as *unmasquerading her.
1877. E. FitzGerald, Lett. (1889), I. 408. Thence I lately took down Mr. Lowell’s (I have proposed to *un-mister him too), Lowell’s Essays.
1870. C. Reade, Put yourself in his Place, I. v. 68. The hair, not in ropes—yet not so as to cord the mass, and *unsatin it quite.
1890. Chamb. Jrnl., 21 June, 387/2. To break her spirit, and *unshrew her into somebody’s very humble servant.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 75. Our Watch would without more ado be utterly *unwatcht.
c. From sbs. (rarely from adjs.) there are numerous formations in -(i)fy, and from both sbs. and adjs. in -ize. Other endings, as -ate, are less usual.
(a) 1857. Dufferin, Lett. High Lat., viii. 201. The idea of fog and ice in the month of June seemed so completely to *uncockneyfy us.
1834. Southey, Doctor, vi. (1848), 107. Unipsefying and *unegofying the Ipsissimus Ego.
1837. Darwin, in Life (1887), I. 282. I think my silicified wood has *unflintified Mr. Brown’s heart.
1882. Sala, Amer. Revis. (1883), 241. A city on a scale of vastness which Sesostris, could he *‘unmummify’ himself, might admire.
1866. Ruskin, Eth. Dust, 36. What will you gain by *unpersonifying it?
1858. Faber, Foot of Cross (1872), 231. Why should she stay her devotion, or *unsimplify her worship?
(b) 1833. American, VII. 117. Foreign interests and alien population tend to *un-Americanize the place.
1895. Spectator, 23 Nov., 731. The author scarcely deserves to be *unanonymised.
1860. Reade, 8th Commandm., 335. A noble international measure that … would have done much to *unbohemianize writers.
1891. W. S. Lilly, Shibboleths, 186. A certain number of the clergy … wished to *unclericalize themselves.
1876. N. Amer. Rev., Oct., 255. Its consequence was to *undemocratize the Democratic party.
1871. Proctor, Light Science, 338. To pluralize some of the objects,… to *undualize others.
1870. Standard, 24 Nov. If the *unequalising process is to be carried any further.
1882. St. James’ Gaz., 29 March, 3/1. We are invited to view … the Fenians *unfenianized.
1830. Pusey, Hist. Enq., II. 392. The great body, which their excellent predecessors had endeavoured to *unformularize.
1898. Bodley, France, I. I. i. 67. German intermarriages have *un-gallicised the Swedish dynasty.
1852. Bristed, Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 2), 343. Unmanning and *un-gentlemanizing themselves to any extent.
1898. Bodley, France, I. I. iv. 222. As for the Alsacians, France took little pains to *un-germanize them.
1853. Blackw. Mag., LXXIV. 101. A hero, with out-staring eyes,… is sadly *unheroised.
a. 1876. Ht. Martineau, Autobiog. (1877), II. 287. Let us *unindividualize ourselves.
1875. Shalders, trans. Godet’s Comm. Luke, I. 386. Jesus desired … to reclaim the people, and prevent their being still more *unjudaized.
1862. De Morgan, in Graves, Life Sir W. R. Hamilton (1889), III. 571. He had … to back out of infinitesimals, in order to *unleibnitize his system.
1874. H. Bushnell, Forgiveness & Law, iv. 222. To *unlocalize, universalize, and make victorious the great salvation.
1838. G. S. Faber, Inquiry, 48. The paradoxical vineyard of *unmanicheanised Manichèism.
1884. Stoughton, Relig. in Eng., I. 337. How could it, without *unmethodising Methodism?
1833. R. H. Froude, Rem. (1838), I. 332. To … un-Protestantise, *un-Miltonise them.
1885. Masson, Carlyle, ii. 71. Mystics he could make nothing of except by *unmysticising them.
1833. Blackw. Mag., XXXIV. 540. Such a taste is there to vulgarize, to *unpoetize nature.
1852. Smedley, L. Arundel, xxix. 218. It will take me longer to *unpuppyise myself than I was aware of.
1889. Times, 23 Feb., 7/1. His great anxiety was to *unradicalize himself.
1842. Blackw. Mag., LI. 163. The effect produced,… was, if the expression may be allowed, to *unrevelationize revelation.
1852. C. Wordsworth, Occas. Serm., IV. 14. England romanized Ireland: and England ought to *unromanize it.
1885. Cornh. Mag., March, 271. Some of the chaunting was rather fine, but the orchestral accompaniment was decidedly *unsolemnising.
1899. R. Wallace, Geo. Buchanan, iv. 70. Had he been all his detractors call him, that would not have *unstoicized him.
1854. Faber, Growth in Holiness, x. (1872), 163. Human respect *unsupernaturalizes actions which are good in substance.
1852. Lewis, Meth. Observ. & Reas. in Pol., I. 96. There are numerous influences at work to *untechnicalize it.
1873. J. Skinner, Lett., in Life, xvi. (1884), 318. Those mad attempts to *untheologize (if I may coin a word) the language of theology.
7. With rare exceptions, the OE. verbs in un- are transitive, and this has always remained the prevailing use. In ME., however, intransitive uses of some common words are found, as unbend, unclose, unlouk, and in casual formations as unbody. In the later language the usage increases to some extent (as in unfold, etc.), but is chiefly confined to words having some currency.
Florio employs unday, undebt, undroop, unsicken, unswell. The following are rare modern instances.
1816. Colman, Br. Grins, Champernoune, ii. His courtiers swore … They’d broil a pope to keep a place, So all unpapalized apace.
1831. Trelawny, Adv. Younger Son, II. 113. Look at him, he is unturbaning!
1862. Helps, Org. Daily Life, 108. The organization grinds on,… and it is very difficult to make the thing ungrind.
8. Verbal substantives, participial adjectives, and agent-nouns are naturally formed from verbs in un- as from simple verbs. These forms begin to appear in the 14th century, and become common in the later language.
Many of the past pples. and ppl. adjs., as unbent, unbound, undressed, unfastened, etc., coincide with formations in which the prefix is UN-1, and the distinction in meaning is not always sufficiently clear to admit of an absolute separation between the forms. Either prefix is normally unstressed in all participial formations used predicatively, but commonly receives the main stress when employed attributively, as an uěnbent bow, an u·nbound book.
9. The redundant use of un- is rare, but occurs in OE. unlíesan, and ME. unloose, which has succeeded in maintaining itself. Later instances are unbare, unsolve, unstrip (16–17th cent.), and the modern dialect forms unempt(y), unrid, unthaw (also locally uneave).
For occasional misuses of un- see unloaden, unranked.
