English
unless
Unless comes from Middle English unlesse.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unlesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1159unless
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unlesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1159unless
Earliest quotation: 1159, John of Salisbury, Policraticus: “Who would know of Alexander or Caesar, or would…”
The story
The quality of negation in the word and the lack of stress changed on to un-.
Every English word from Middle English unlesse
Today it means
conj Except on a specified condition; if not.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English unlesse / unless