Etymology

unstable

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Today it means: Not stable. Full definition →

Middle English unstable
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unstable · adjective1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromunstable
  2. English todayunstable

From Middle English unstable; equivalent to un- (“not”) + stable. Piecewise doublet of instable and astable.

unstable · verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Germanic*anda-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*anda-
  5. Old Englishand-
  6. Old Englishon-
  7. Middle Englishon-
  8. Englishun-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*sth₂dʰlóm
  11. Proto-Italic*staðlom
  12. Latinstab(u)lum
  13. Anglo-Normanstable
  14. Middle Englishstable
  15. Englishstable
  16. English todayunstable

From un- (reversive prefix) + stable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.