Unbracketed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not enclosed within brackets or parentheses; referring to text or elements that appear without being set off by such punctuation marks; describing information presented openly without the use of enclosing symbols
2. Characterized by the absence of square or round enclosing marks, often relating to content shown plainly without surrounding brackets; indicating data or words that stand alone outside of any bracketed section; denoting textual components not enclosed by punctuation used to separate or highlight
3. Referring to material or characters that are not contained within typographical brackets; relating to expressions or segments displayed without the use of enclosing brackets or parentheses; signifying items presented without the conventional side markers that define bracketed content

Etymology: "Unbracketed" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not," attached to "bracketed," the past participle of "bracket." That makes it a transparent compound rather than a word with a dramatic backstory, so the history lies in its two parts. "Bracket" itself is the older and more interesting element. It came into English from the Spanish or Italian "bragueta," a little brace or support, with the sense of a supporting piece projecting from a wall or under a shelf. The printing sense of a pair of marks enclosing text arrived later, and it is this sense that "unbracketed" depends on. Its adjectival meaning follows the same logic: text, data, or a word that sits outside those paired marks.

Synonyms: unparenthesized, unquoted

Antonyms: bracketed, parenthesized