shunned
UK[ʃʌnd]US[ʃʌnd]
v
To deliberately avoid or keep away from someone or something, typically because they are disliked, feared, or considered undesirable.
Morpheme Breakdown
shun
n
ed
shun
avoid
n
ed
past tense suffix
Etymology
The verb 'shun' originates from the Old English scunian, meaning "to avoid, abhor, or escape from." Its ultimate roots are uncertain but may be connected to Old High German scunion ("to frighten off") or perhaps even to the Proto-Indo-European base (s)keu-, meaning "to cover, conceal," which would link the act of shunning to hiding or keeping away. The modern form 'shunned' is built by directly adding the regular past tense suffix '-ed' to the base verb 'shun,' following a standard pattern in English conjugation. Thus, 'shunned' carries the core sense of deliberate avoidance from its ancient Germanic ancestor, now formalized into a standard past tense verb form.
Analysis
Structure: shun (avoid) + n + ed (past tense suffix)
- shun: A verb of Old English origin (scunian), meaning "to avoid, shun, abhor."
- n: A phonetic element resulting from the verb's conjugation.
- ed: An inflectional suffix of Old English origin (-ode, -ade), used to form the past tense and past participle of regular verbs.
Examples
After the scandal, he was shunned by his former colleagues.
She shunned all publicity and lived a very private life.
The community shunned the outdated practice for a more modern approach.