Etymology

unbold

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Today it means: To change (text) from a bold typeface to a non-bolded typeface. Full definition →

Middle English unbolde ← Old English unbeald ← Proto-Germanic *unbalþaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*unbalþaz“unbold”
  2. Old English · inherited fromunbeald“unbold, unconfident, irresolute”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromunbolde
  4. English todayunbold

From Middle English unbolde, unbald, from Old English unbeald (“unbold, unconfident, irresolute”), from Proto-Germanic *unbalþaz (“unbold”), equivalent to un- + bold. Cognate with Old High German unbald (“discouraged”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.