un (French)
Where does "un" come from?
The French word 'un' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *h₁óynos, which meant 'one' or 'single.' This root evolved through Proto-Italic and Latin as 'ūnus' before shifting into Old and Middle French. Over millennia, the word has maintained its fundamental mathematical meaning, serving as the direct ancestor to our modern concept of unity.
Full etymology tree
- un (French), 'one'
- inherited un (Middle French), 'an; a'
- inherited un (Old French), 'a, an (masculine oblique singular indefinite article)'
- inherited ūnum (Latin), 'inflection of ūnus:'
- inherited ūnus (Latin), 'one, single'
- inherited oinos (Latin), 'one'
- inherited *oinos (Proto-Italic), 'one'
- inherited *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
- inherited *oinos (Proto-Italic), 'one'
- inherited oinos (Latin), 'one'
- inherited ūnus (Latin), 'one, single'
- inherited ūnum (Latin), 'inflection of ūnus:'
- inherited un (Old French), 'a, an (masculine oblique singular indefinite article)'
- inherited un (Middle French), 'an; a'
Ancestors
- un (Middle French)
- un (Old French)
- unum (Latin)
- *oinos (Proto-Italic)
- *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European)
Descendants and derived words
- comme pas un (French)
- être moins une (French)
- plutôt deux fois qu'une (French)
- un à un (French)
- un contre un (French)
- une fois n'est pas coutume (French)
- un par un (French)
- un pour tous, tous pour un (French)
- en (Haitian Creole)
- in (Louisiana Creole)
- un (Louisiana Creole)
- un (Louisiana Creole)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris