unfurnished
Meaning
(of a room, house, or apartment) not containing furniture.
(of an agreement or information) not supplied or provided with something.
Structure
Usage
the apartment was rented unfurnished, so we had to buy all our own furniture.
they moved into the unfurnished house with only a few suitcases and a mattress.
the report was unfurnished with any supporting data, making its conclusions questionable.
Etymology
The word 'unfurnished' is a layered construction in English. Its core, 'furnish', entered Middle English from Old French furnir, meaning "to equip or provide", which itself has Germanic roots. The prefix 'un-', a native English element from Old English, is added to reverse the meaning, creating the sense of "not provided". The suffix '-ed' is then attached to form a participial adjective describing the resultant state. Thus, the literal progression from "to provide" to "provided" to "not provided" perfectly captures the modern meaning of a space lacking furniture or an agreement lacking specific details.
Analysis
- un: a prefix of germanic origin (old english) meaning "not", used to form negatives. - furnish: a verb of french origin (from old french furnir, fournir), meaning "to provide or supply". - ed: a suffix of germanic origin (old english) used to form adjectives from verbs, indicating a state or condition.