Revised 2017
unlessadverb, conjunction, preposition, & noun
Factsheet
What does the word unless mean?
There are 12 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word unless, seven of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the word unless?
About 70occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1750 | 120 |
| 1760 | 110 |
| 1770 | 110 |
| 1780 | 100 |
| 1790 | 110 |
| 1800 | 100 |
| 1810 | 100 |
| 1820 | 110 |
| 1830 | 110 |
| 1840 | 110 |
| 1850 | 100 |
| 1860 | 100 |
| 1870 | 100 |
| 1880 | 100 |
| 1890 | 100 |
| 1900 | 100 |
| 1910 | 110 |
| 1920 | 100 |
| 1930 | 98 |
| 1940 | 100 |
| 1950 | 93 |
| 1960 | 84 |
| 1970 | 75 |
| 1980 | 67 |
| 1990 | 63 |
| 2000 | 61 |
| 2010 | 61 |
How is the word unless pronounced?
British English
/(ə)nˈlɛs/
uhn-LESS
/ʌnˈlɛs/
un-LESS
U.S. English
/ənˈlɛs/
uhn-LESS
Where does the word unless come from?
Earliest known use
Middle English
The earliest known use of the word unless is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).
OED's earliest evidence for unless is from 1414, in Rolls of Parliament: Henry V.
In other dictionaries
Nearby entries
- unlegible, adj.1451–
- unlegislative, adj.1791–
- unlegitimate, adj.¹1516–58
- unlegitimate, adj.²1602–
- unlegitimate, v.1606
- unleisured, adj.a1586–
- unleisuredness, n.1661–
- unlength, n.c1275
- unlengthened, adj.1739–
- unlent, adj.1580–
- unless, adv., conj., prep., n.1414–
- unlessen, conj.1880–
- unlessened, adj.1651–
- unlessoned, adj.c1555–
- unlest, conj.1536–
- unlet, adj.1453–
- unlettable, adj.1833–
- unletted, adj.?a1425–1848
- unletten, adj.1531–1832
- unlettered, adj. & n.c1390–
- unletting, adj.1576–97
Meaning & use
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Pronunciation
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Forms
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Frequency
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Compounds & derived words
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Entry history for unless, adv., conj., prep., n.
unless, adv., conj., prep., n. was revised in June 2017
unless, adv., conj., prep., n. was last modified in July 2023
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into unless, adv., conj., prep., n. in July 2023.
Earlier versions of unless, adv., conj., prep., n. were published in:
OED First Edition (1924)
OED Second Edition (1989)
Cite
Chicago
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “”, . <>
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MLA9
“”. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, , <>
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