unless

English Online Dictionary. What means unless‎? What does unless mean?

English

Alternative forms

• unlesse (obsolete)
• unlessen (US dialect)

Etymology

From Middle English unlesse, earlier on lesse (modern on + less), from (not) on lesse (than) (“(not) on a less compelling condition (than)”). The quality of negation in the word and the lack of stress changed on to un-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ənˈlɛs/, /ʌnˈlɛs/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ʊnˈlɛs/
• (US, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈlɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɛs

Conjunction

unless

1. Except on a specified condition; if not.

   I’m leaving unless I get a pay rise.

   You can't go out unless it stops raining.
2. If not; used with counterfactual conditionals.
   • 1159, John of Salisbury, Policraticus, edited by Cary J. Nederman, Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 3 (Google Books view):

     Who would know of Alexander or Caesar, or would respect the Stoics or the Peripatetics, unless they had been distinguished by the memorials of writers?

   • 1867, William Robinson Pirie, Natural Theology: An Inquiry Into the Fundamental Principles of Religious, Moral, and Political Science, page 75 (Google Books view):

     Unless He were omnipotent, we could not be sure of His ability to bless us.

3. Except if; used with hypothetical conditionals.
   • 1809, The Naval Chronicle for 1809: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects. Vol. XXII. (from July to December), Cambridge University Press, 2010, page 482 (Google Books view):

     Q. If Lieutenant P. had given the word "Fire," would you have fired, and at what?—A. I should not have known, unless he had told me what to fire at.

   • 1981, Arthur C. Danto, The Transfiguration of the Commonplace: A Philosophy of Art, page 118 (Google Books view):

     Suppose Breugel had done the whole painting with no legs. Then, titled as it is, it would be mystifying, unless someone were to say: the boy has fallen in the waters and they have closed over him, calm is restored, life goes on (as in The Israelites Crossing the Red Sea).

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “except on a condition”): if

Derived terms

• precisely unless
• unlesss
• unless and until, until and unless

Translations

References