Unrelated

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not connected by any significant or relevant associations
2. Existing apart from any established or reasonable links
3. Lacking pertinence or relevance to the subject or matter at hand

Etymology: "Unrelated" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the prefix "un-" meaning "not" joined to "related," which itself comes from the verb "relate." The prefix has a long pedigree behind it. It descends from a Proto-Indo-European root for negation, passed down through Proto-Germanic and Old English, so the same "not" sits at the front of words like "unhappy" and "undo" that go back to the earliest stages of the language. What makes "unrelated" worth a closer look is how plainly it shows the mechanism at work. "Related" carries the sense of being connected or told as a story (relate), and "un-" simply reverses it, so the whole word means nothing more than "not connected to." Because the parts are so transparent, there is little mystery to uncover, and the word stands as a clear example of English building a negative from a native prefix and an existing adjective.

Synonyms: irrelevant, unconnected, separate, distinct, independent

Antonyms: related, connected, associated, linked, affiliated