Word that would appear to have a related word but does not
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An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not.[1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite. If the prefix or suffix is negative, such as 'dis-' or -'less', the word can be called an orphaned negative.[2]
Unpaired words can be the result of one of the words falling out of popular usage, or can be created when only one word of a pair is borrowed from another language, in either case yielding an accidental gap, specifically a morphological gap. Other unpaired words were never part of a pair; their starting or ending phonemes, by accident, happen to match those of an existing morpheme, leading to a reinterpretation.
The classification of a word as "unpaired" can be problematic, as a word thought to be unattested might reappear in real-world usage or be created, for example, through humorous back-formation. In some cases a paired word does exist, but is quite rare or archaic (no longer in general use).
Such words – and particularly the back-formations, used as nonce words – find occasional use in wordplay, particularly light verse. There are a handful of notable examples in modern English.
^Injeeli, Prudent (2013). Mind Your Words Master the Art of Learning and Teaching Vocabulary. Trafford on Demand Pub. ISBN 978-1-4669-9131-6. OCLC 850242046.
^"Orphaned negative". Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
An unpairedword is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. Such words usually have a...
grammatical relationships is a synthetic language. Fixed expression Fossil wordUnpairedword Kroeger, Paul (2005). Analyzing Grammar: An Introduction. Cambridge:...
coffin fell out of the car. Another use of fossils is in using antonyms of unpaired words – "I was well-coiffed and sheveled," (back-formation from "disheveled")...
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Appendix:Orphaned words Fossil wordUnpairedword – words like "unkempt", "ruthless" "Cranberry morpheme", the Lexicon...
example, mae eisiau arnaf 'I want', literally 'there is a want on me'. Unpairedword – another form of lexical gap This article uses asterisks to indicate...
conducted with a SQUID magnetometer. Paramagnetism is due to the presence of unpaired electrons in the material, so most atoms with incompletely filled atomic...
accidental gap. The similar case of unpaired words occurs where one word is obsolete or rare while another word derived from it is more common. Examples...
([Fe(CN)6]4− has no unpaired electrons. It is low-spin. With so-called "weak field ligands" such as water, the four of the six electrons are unpaired. Thus aquo...
The vomer (/ˈvoʊmər/; Latin: vomer, lit. 'ploughshare') is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates...
The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone of the neurocranium. It is situated in the middle of the skull towards the front, in front of the basilar part of...
([Fe(CN)6]3− has only one unpaired electron. It is low-spin. With so-called "weak field ligands" such as water, the five electrons are unpaired. Thus aquo complex...
In the human skull, the frontal bone or sincipital bone is a unpaired bone which consists of two portions. These are the vertically oriented squamous part...
polyatomic complex, as shown by the uranyl ion example. If an ion contains unpaired electrons, it is called a radical ion. Just like uncharged radicals, radical...
radical refers to various free radicals, which are species that have an unpaired electron and need not be charged.[citation needed] A simple example of...
complexes and oxides. Most are strongly paramagnetic because of their unpaired d electrons, as are many of their compounds. All of the elements that are...
company Azygos (disambiguation), a synonym for impar, an anatomical word for unpaired Ganglion impar This disambiguation page lists articles associated...
} This relationship is a form of Poisson's equation. In the absence of unpaired electric charge, the equation becomes Laplace's equation: ∇ 2 ϕ = 0 , {\displaystyle...
nine cartilages, three unpaired and three paired (3 pairs=6), that support the mammalian larynx and form its skeleton. Unpaired cartilages: Thyroid cartilage:...
of molecular oxygen (dioxygen). Molecules of triplet oxygen contain two unpaired electrons, making triplet oxygen an unusual example of a stable and commonly...
gꞰqʼ and nꞰhh in their practical orthography. The first three match the unpaired glottalized series of Traill, Ʞˀ (= ᵑꞰˀ), Ʞkʼ, Ʞqʼ. If Traill's ɡꞰh series...
inside« quote” In Hungarian linguistic tradition the meaning of a word is signified by uniform (unpaired) apostrophe-shaped quotation marks: die Biene ’méh’ A quotation...
determine the secondary structure of RNA. At neutral pH, DMS methylates unpaired adenine and cytosine residues at their canonical Watson–Crick faces, but...
principal oxides of nitrogen. Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes denoted by a dot in its chemical formula (•N=O...
with periods to indicate silent pauses, for example (…) or (2 sec). An unpaired right parenthesis is often used as part of a label in an ordered list,...
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