unselfishness
Meaning
The quality of being concerned more with the needs and happiness of others than with your own; lack of selfishness.
Structure
Usage
Her unselfishness was evident in the way she always put the team's goals first.
The award recognized his lifelong unselfishness and dedication to charitable work.
True leadership requires a degree of unselfishness and a focus on the greater good.
Etymology
The word 'unselfishness' is a modern English formation built by applying productive affixes to a core concept. Its foundation is the Old English noun 'self', meaning "one's own person," which has ancient Proto-Indo-European roots. The adjective 'selfish' emerged in the 17th century by adding the suffix '-ish' (having the character of) to 'self'. To negate this quality, the Old English prefix 'un-' (meaning "not") is attached, creating the adjective 'unselfish'. Finally, the abstract noun is formed by appending the Old English suffix '-nes', which concretizes the condition or quality of being unselfish. Thus, the word's logic is a clear, layered construction: the state (ness) of not (un) having the character of being concerned solely with oneself (selfish).
Analysis
- un: A prefix of Germanic origin, meaning "not," used to give a word a negative or opposite force. - selfish: An adjective of English origin, derived from 'self' + '-ish', meaning "caring only about oneself." - ness: A noun-forming suffix of Germanic origin, used to form abstract nouns indicating a state, condition, or quality.