Unwaxed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not having been coated or treated with wax, leaving the surface in its natural state
2. Lacking a wax coating or finish that would normally protect or polish the surface
3. Having no wax applied to it, remaining uncoated and in its original condition

Etymology: "Unwaxed" is a plain combination of two English parts: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "waxed", the past participle of "wax" (to coat with wax). Together they describe something that has not been coated with wax, such as a lemon peel or a length of dental floss sold without a wax finish. The prefix itself has a long ancestry. It descends from a Proto-Indo-European negative particle, passed through Proto-Germanic and Old English into Middle and modern English, so "un-" has meant "not" in the language for well over a thousand years. Its real working life, though, is in ordinary coinages like this one, where it simply reverses the sense of the word it precedes.

Synonyms: unpolished, natural, uncoated

Antonyms: waxed, polished, coated