un

Un is a small but widely used morpheme and term found in multiple languages and contexts. In linguistic terms, it most often appears as a negation prefix in English and other Germanic languages, while in many Romance languages it serves as the masculine singular indefinite article or as the numeral one. In addition, UN is internationally recognized as the abbreviation for the United Nations, a global intergovernmental organization.

As a negation prefix, un- is productive in English and related languages, attaching to adjectives, adverbs, and some nouns to convey negation or reversal (for example, unhappy, unfair, undone). It forms antonyms rather than creating a simple opposite in every case, and not all negative meanings are expressible with un- alone. The prefix traces back to Old English and Proto-Germanic roots meaning “not” or “the reverse of,” and it typically appears without altering the root’s spelling beyond standard prefixation.

The United Nations, abbreviated UN, is a separate sense of the term. Founded in 1945 after World War II, the UN is an international organization headquartered in New York City. Its aim is to promote international peace and security, human rights, humanitarian aid, sustainable development, and cooperation among member states. Its principal organs include the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice, among others, with a wide range of specialized agencies and programs.

In Romance languages such as French, Spanish, and Italian, un is commonly the masculine singular indefinite article meaning “a” or “an,” and also functions as the numeral one in the appropriate context (as in un livre, un día, un if applicable). The form and usage reflect broader grammatical systems across these languages.

See also: language prefixes, United Nations, Romance languages articles.