| un- |
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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 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., 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., Un- is prefixed to adjectives, or to words used adjectively., To adjectives, to denote the absence of the quality designated by the adjective, To past particles, or to adjectives formed after the analogy of past particles, to indicate the absence of the condition or state expressed by them, To present particles which come from intransitive verbs, or are themselves employed as adjectives, to mark the absence of the activity, disposition, or condition implied by the participle; as, – —- and the like., Those which have acquired an opposed or contrary, instead of a merely negative, meaning; as, unfriendly, ungraceful, unpalatable, unquiet, and the like; or else an intensive sense more than a prefixed not would express; as, unending, unparalleled, undisciplined, undoubted, unsafe, and the like., Those which have the value of independent words, inasmuch as the simple words are either not used at all, or are rarely, or at least much less frequently, used; as, unavoidable, unconscionable, undeniable, unspeakable, unprecedented, unruly, and the like; or inasmuch as they are used in a different sense from the usual meaning of the primitive, or especially in one of the significations of the latter; as, unaccountable, unalloyed, unbelieving, unpretending, unreserved, and the like; or inasmuch as they are so frequently and familiarly used that they are hardly felt to be of negative origin; as, uncertain, uneven, and the like., Those which are anomalous, provincial, or, for some other reason, not desirable to be used, and are so indicated; as, unpure for impure, unsatisfaction for dissatisfaction, unexpressible for inexpressible, and the like., Un- is prefixed to nouns to express the absence of, or the contrary of, that which the noun signifies; as, unbelief, unfaith, unhealth, unrest, untruth, and the like. |
| urn |
noun |
A vessel of various forms, usually a vase furnished with a foot or pedestal, employed for different purposes, as for holding liquids, for ornamental uses, for preserving the ashes of the dead after cremation, and anciently for holding lots to be drawn., Fig.: Any place of burial; the grave., A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a haft, wine measure. It was haft the amphora, and four times the congius., A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca., A tea urn. See under Tea., To inclose in, or as in, an urn; to inurn. |
| use |
verb t. |
The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one’s service; the state of being so employed or applied; application; employment; conversion to some purpose; as, the use of a pen in writing; his machines are in general use., Occasion or need to employ; necessity; as, to have no further use for a book., Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of being used; usefulness; utility., Continued or repeated practice; customary employment; usage; custom; manner; habit., Common occurrence; ordinary experience., The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese; as, the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford use; the York use; the Roman use; etc., The premium paid for the possession and employment of borrowed money; interest; usury., The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and limited to A for the use of B., A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging, as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging., To make use of; to convert to one’s service; to avail one’s self of; to employ; to put a purpose; as, to use a plow; to use a chair; to use time; to use flour for food; to use water for irrigation., To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat; as, to use a beast cruelly., To practice customarily; to make a practice of; as, to use diligence in business., To accustom; to habituate; to render familiar by practice; to inure; — employed chiefly in the passive participle; as, men used to cold and hunger; soldiers used to hardships and danger., To be wont or accustomed; to be in the habit or practice; as, he used to ride daily; — now disused in the present tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between “use to,” and “used to.”, To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell; — sometimes followed by of. |