A Dictionary of Cont..

understood 528
with humorous modesty into technical explanations
(These things work, 1 understand, on the
principle of. etc.). What the speaker means is “I
have been told, but it’s beyond my comprehension.”
In between these extremes, the expression
can mean to believe, to suspect, to know, to have
been informed, or, as Sir Alan Herbert adds,
“There is a strong rumor at the club.” Certainly
there is a difference between saying I understand
that you are not satisfied and saying I know that
you are not satisfied and all the difference in the
world in the signification of I understand in Z
understand that you are not satisfied and I understand
why you are not satisfied. See also know;
comprehend; understand.
understood. See understand.
undiscriminating; indiscriminating. Undiscriminating
is the term strongly preferred in England and
America to mean not discriminating and indiscriminate
to mean not discriminated.
undoubtedlv: doubtless: indubitablv. Undoubtedly
is thyusual word; signifying deyond doubt,
indisputably. Doubtless is not so strong a word.
It means without doubt, unquestionably; but it
also is concessive, suggesting probability or presumption.
Indubitably is a pretentious substitute
for either undoubtedly or doubtless.
undue, meaning not requisite, not necessary, excessive,
too great, needs to be used with intelligent
care. For instance, the statement He didn’t
seem unduly concerned about his grades, that is,
“He didn’t seem any more concerned than there
was reason for concern,” is a pretty loose statement
by itself. One has to know how much
concern would have been reasonable before the
statement can convey a clear idea. Even more
unfortunate is the use of nndue in such a statement
as There was no undue drunkenness in
town Saturday night. One wonders how much
drunkenness was due. Undue, in such a context,
needs qualification. It has a meaning in: There
was no undue drunkenness in town, if we remamber
that this n’us the first liberty the crew had
had in three months.
undying, deathless, and immortal all mean not
liable or subject to death, though they seem to
express slightly different shades of conviction of
perpetuity. Undying has often the sense of unceasing
(the undying worm, the undying buritone
of the sea), a sense not shared with the
others. In the common phrase undying affection
the ideas of unceasing and lasting forever are
combined. Deathless and immortal are closer together
in meaning not subject to death or destruction,
unceasing or perpetual in time (Ne’er
shall oblivion’s murky cloud/ Obscure his deathless
praise). While deathless stresses freedom
from death, immortal emphasizes endurance
through all time (Unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible. the onlv wise God. be honor and
g&y for ever. Lap- me in soft Lydian airs,/
Married to immortal verse). The immortals are
the classical divinities. The Forty Immortals are
the members of the French Academy.
unelastic. See inelastic.
unestimable; inestimable. Inestimable is the only
form now used in the United States (His opinion
was of inestimable value). It is the preferred
form in England, although unestimable is still
accepted there in the sense of too great to be
estimated.
unexplainable. See inexplicable.
unfertilized; infertile; unfertile. Unfertilized is the
correct word meaning unimpregnated (as of animals
or plants) or unenriched (as of soil). Znfertile
is the preferred word meaning not fertile,
unfruitful, unproductive, barren. Unfertile is its
less used synonym.
unfrequent; unfrequented; infrequent; infrequency.
Znfrequent is greatly preferred to Llnfrequent
to convey the idea of happening or
occurring at long intervals or not often (These
infrequent visits to the city became an increasing
burden); not constant, habitual. or regular (He
wus an infrequerzt visitor to the city). Unfrequented
is correct, infrequented incorrect, in the
sense of not frequented, little resorted to or visited,
solitary (Kidd was believed to have hidden
hi.7 gold on un unfrequented island). Infrequency
is the preferred noun meaning the state of being
infrequent (Gradually she became accustomed
to the infrequency of his visits). The American
alternative, infrequence, and the English alternatives,
infrequence and unfrequency, are rarely
used.
unharmonious. See inharmonious.
unheard-of. From its primary sense of that which
was never heard of, unheard-of has come to
mean such as was never known before, new,
strange, unprecedented. In this changing meaning
there is a likelihood of ambiguity that must
be watched for. If a message, for instance, is
described as unheard-of, the context must make
it plain whether this means that the message was
not received or heard of, or whether it was in
some way, perhaps in its insolence, unprecedented.
unhuman; inhuman. Znhuman is the correct adjective
meaning lacking natural human feeling or
sympathy for others: brutal (The inhuman treutment
inflicted on the captives sowed the seeds of
undying hatred). In America inhuman also has
the secondary sense of not human, unlike some
human attribute or function. The English express
this sense with the word unhumun (It was
an unhumun voice, more like a crow’s). Americans
use unhuman as the less desirable alternative
to both senses of inhuman.
unimportant. See inconsequent.
unintelligible. See unthinkable.
uninterested. See disinterested.
unique once meant “only,” as in his unique son.
It can no longer be used in this sense. Today
unique may mean “in a class by itself,” but it
more often means “unparalleled” or simply “remarkable.”
In this, it is following the pattern of
singular. In all its current senses unique may be
used with words that imply degrees, such as
more unique and quite unique. Some people believe
that there is something about the meaning