English

uncleanly

Uncleanly comes from Old English unclǣnlīc ‘unclean, impure’, from clǣnlīċ ‘cleanly, pure, excellent, splendid’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *klainī.

Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainī‘clean’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣne‘clean’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150clǣnlīċ‘cleanly, pure, excellent, splendid’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150unclǣnlīc‘unclean, impure’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unclenlī
Englishearliest quotation 1907uncleanly

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klainī‘clean’reconstructed
Old Englishc. 450–1150clǣne‘clean’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150clǣnlīċ‘cleanly, pure, excellent, splendid’
Old English, derivedc. 450–1150unclǣnlīc‘unclean, impure’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unclenlī
Englishearliest quotation 1907uncleanly

Earliest quotation: 1907, Annual Report: “Prosodemic typhoid from its nature may be disseminated in…”

Formed from un- + cleanly

Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not, un-’

Proto-Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

Proto-West Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

English un-

Proto-West Germanic *klainī ‘clean’

Old English clǣne ‘clean’

Old English clǣnlīċ ‘cleanly, pure, excellent’

Middle English clenly

English cleanly

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *klainī ‘clean’

clean, 3 more

Another origin of uncleanly

Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unclenly
Englishtodayuncleanly

Today it means

adj Dirty, unhygienic, not clean.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *klainī / uncleanly

Shirt and support for this word