Unwed

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not married or having never been married
2. Being in a state of not being married or having never entered into a marital union with anyone
3. Having never entered into marriage, living without marital status

Etymology: Unwed is about as plain as English compounds get: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "wed", the old verb for marrying. The "wed" half is the more interesting part. It descends from a Germanic root shared with words for a pledge or security, so to wed someone was originally to bind yourself to them by a solemn promise. Unwed therefore describes someone who has never made that binding pledge. The word also has a second, older line of descent that its dictionary entry records. Its "un-" can come from an Old English prefix "and-" or "on-", which carried a sense of reversal, so the same spelling may hide two different routes into English. Both paths meet at "wed," which is the part that carries the meaning.

Synonyms: single, unmarried, free

Antonyms: married, wed