unhesitating
Meaning
done or acting immediately and without pausing or doubting.
Structure
Usage
she gave her unhesitating support to the proposal.
his answer was an unhesitating "yes".
the soldiers advanced with unhesitating courage.
Etymology
The word 'unhesitating' is a Modern English formation built upon the older verb 'hesitate'. The core root 'hesitat-' originates from the Latin verb haesitare, which meant "to stick fast, hesitate, be undecided," itself a frequentative form of haerere ("to stick, cling"). The prefix 'un-', a common English negator from Old English, is attached to the present participle 'hesitating' to reverse its meaning. Thus, the literal construction "not sticking fast" evolved logically into the modern abstract sense of acting without pause or doubt.
Analysis
- un: a prefix of english origin (from old english) meaning "not". - hesitat: a bound root from latin haesitat-, the past participial stem of haesitare meaning "to stick fast, be undecided". - ing: a suffix of english origin (from old english) used to form present participles and adjectives from verbs.