Etymograph

English

unartistic

Unartistic comes from French artistique ‘artistic’, from Latin ars ‘art, skill, craft, handicraft’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-1‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂értis1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*artis1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEars1‘art, skill, craft, handicraft’
  5. Late Latinmodernartista1
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentartiste1‘artist’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentartistique1‘artistic’
  8. English1500–presentartistic1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1942unartistic1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English unartistic
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Mildred Graves Ryan, Your Clothes and Personality: “If you have never had it, and you are…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂er-Wiktionary, English unartistic‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂értisWiktionary, English unartisticreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*artisWiktionary, English unartisticreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarsWiktionary, English unartistic‘art, skill, craft, handicraft’
  5. Late LatinmodernartistaWiktionary, English unartistic
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentartisteWiktionary, English unartistic‘artist’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentartistiqueWiktionary, English unartistic‘artistic’
  8. English1500–presentartisticWiktionary, English unartistic
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1942unartisticWiktionary, English unartistic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Mildred Graves Ryan, Your Clothes and Personality: “If you have never had it, and you are…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’

order, reason, ready, rate, army, arm, article, ratio, ordinary, alarm, harmony, armor, coordinate, coordination, subordinate, anarchy, ornament, ordination, adorn, arthritis, harmonic, harmonious, ornate, arithmetic, articulate, armament, ordinate, ordinator, aristocratic, artisan, articulation, armadillo, harmonize, rime, ordinal, ordain, rta, ordo, armature, archon, 72 more

through Proto-Italic *artis

inertia, 18 more

through Latin ars ‘art, skill, craft, handicraft’

art, inert, artifice, 19 more

through Late Latin artista

artiste, 16 more

through French artiste ‘artist’

artist, 17 more

through English artistic

artistically, 7 more

Today it means

adj Not artistic.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “unartistic”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- / unartistic

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