Untitled

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Lacking a formal or designated name; not given a specific title; unnamed or without an official label
2. Describing something that has not been assigned a name or heading; without a titled identification; unnamed and unidentified by formal designation
3. Characterized by the absence of a given title or name; not labeled with a specific designation; existing without an official or recognized title

Etymology: "Untitled" is a plain compound: the negative prefix "un-" attached to "titled," the adjective from "title." The prefix has a long pedigree, tracing back through Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European negative "*n̥-", and it has been part of English since Old English, where it was attached freely to adjectives and participles to mean "not" or "the opposite of." That makes "untitled" a case of an ancient negation grafted onto a much younger word. The base, "title," came into English from Old French "title," itself from Latin "titulus," meaning an inscription or label, which is where the sense of a name placed on something comes from. Adding "-ed" turned the noun into an adjective describing something that has been given a title, and "un-" then reverses that, so the word describes something that has not been given one. Artists and curators often use it precisely for this reason: a work left without a name is simply "untitled," and the label works as a deliberate absence.

Synonyms: nameless, unnamed

Antonyms: titled, named