Sigh. This caused me to get out my grandfather's copy of Webster's New International, dated 1920. (Although why an Englishman bought a copy of Webster in 1920 has always confused me.)
'unsecure' is listed in the small print section as a synonym for 'insecure', tagged /rare/. Regards Brian On 04/06/2015 04:25, Elwyn Davies wrote: > Hi, Francis. > > On 03/06/2015 15:55, Francis Dupont wrote: >> <snip> >> >> Regards >> >> [email protected] >> >> PS for native English speakers: is unsecure proper English? My speller >> says insecure and unsecured are but not unsecure. >> >> _______________________________________________ > > In modern usage "insecure" is (pretty much) always used for something that is > not secure (e.g., The lock on that door is > insecure.). Checking back into the nearest thing we have to an authoritative > source, the (full) Oxford English Dictionary (OED) > *does* have an entry for "unsecure" but it is marked Obs(olete) and the > small number of quotations using it hark > back to the 19th century and earlier. So it isn't 'wrong' but it is archaic. > > <etymology nerd mode on> > > The answer for American English may be different. (e.g., > http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19653/insecure-or-unsecure-when-dealing-with-security) > or it may just be jargon in > things like financial systems. > > Checking in my ancient paper dictionary (early 20th C), it has "insecure" and > "unsecured" as per your speller. However it > caught my eye (and tweaked my memory) that both "indiscipline" and > "undiscipline" *are* both used in modern English. There is > possibly a very subtle difference in meaning. > > For etymological nerds, both my old dictionary and the OED give "insecure" as > a separate head word whereas there is a humungous > entry for "un-" as a prefix including "unsecured", "undiscipline" and a vast > number of other un's. To quote the Collin's > dictionary: > > > un-^2 > > prefix > 1. > denoting reversal of an action or state: uncover, untangle > 2. > denoting removal from, release, or deprivation: unharness, unman, unthrone > 3. > (intensifier): unloose > > and from the Online Etymology Dictionary: > ... > Freely and widely used since Old English in compounds with native and > imported words, it disputes with Latin-derived cognate in- > <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in->the right to form the negation of > certain words ( indigestable/undigestable, etc.). > Often euphemistic (e.g. untruth for "lie"). The most prolific of English > prefixes, it even is used to make words from phrases > (e.g. uncalled-for, c.1600; undreamed-of, 1630s; uncome-at-able, 1690s; > unputdownable, 1947, of a book; > un-in-one-breath-utterable, Ben Jonson; etc., but not restricted to un- ; cf. > put-up-able-with, 1812). As a prefix in > telegram-ese to replace not <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/not>and > save the cost of a word, it is first attested 1936. > > Yes.. the entry for Un- in my old dictionary runs to about 10 pages in very > small type. > > So, the authors of the draft can probably claim that they have 'freely used' > unsecure as the negative of secure and you can't > really complain. > > Thinking about it, I wouldn't have any difficulty in using the verb "to > unsecure" (see meaning 2 above) meaning remove the means > securing something ("Take off the padlock" perhaps)... "unsecured" is the > past participle of this verb. BUT AFAIK there isn't > a corresponding verb "to insecure" in use - it just sounds wrong! What a daft > language! > > <etymology nerd mode off> > > Well, you did ask... > > /Elwyn > > > > _______________________________________________ > Gen-art mailing list > [email protected] > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/gen-art > _______________________________________________ Gen-art mailing list [email protected] https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/gen-art
