the word 'uncomfortable' is a layered construction built upon the core concept of 'comfort'. the root 'comfort' entered english from old french 'confort', which itself derives from the late latin verb 'confortare', meaning 'to strengthen greatly'. the suffix '-able' was attached to form 'comfortable', meaning 'capable of providing ease or strength'. finally, the old english negative prefix 'un-' was added to create the opposite meaning. thus, the literal morphemic sequence 'not' + 'strengthen/ease' + 'capable of' evolved into the modern abstract senses describing either a lack of physical ease or a state of mental unease.

Structure: un (not) + comfort (ease) + able (capable of) un- (old english, a prefix expressing negation); comfort (old french, from latin 'confortare' meaning to strengthen greatly); -able (old french, from latin '-abilis', an adjective-forming suffix meaning 'capable of, fit for').