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unless

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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unlesse(obsolete)
unlessen(US dialect)

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishunlesse, earlieron lesse (modernon +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 changedon toun-.^[1]

Pronunciation

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

Conjunction

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unless

Except on aspecifiedcondition;ifnot.
I’m leavingunless I get a pay rise.
You can't go outunless it stops raining.
- 1839, Denison Olmsted,A Compendium of Astronomy, page95:
  Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever,unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
- 1971,Dr. Seuss,The Lorax:
  Unless someone like you...cares a whole awful lot...nothing is going to get better...It's not.
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?
- 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,2 Samuel 2:27:
  And Joab said, As God liveth,unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
- 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.
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.
- 1847,Emily Brontë, chapter III, inWuthering Heights:
  Lie down and finish out the night, since youare here; but, for heaven's sake! don't repeat that horrid noise: nothing could excuse it,unless you were having your throat cut!
- 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 inThe Israelites Crossing the Red Sea).