The story
- Middle English · inherited fromunkempt“uncombed”
- English todayunkempt
From earlier unkembed, unkemmed, from Middle English unkempt (“uncombed”), equivalent to un- + kempt. Compare Old Norse úkembdr (uncombed; unkempt"; whence Icelandic ókembdur), German ungekämmt (“unkempt”), Dutch ongekamd. More at kemb.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.