undo

See also: -undo

English

Pronunciation

• (US, UK)^[1] IPA^(key): /ʌnˈduː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophone: undue (yod-dropping)

Etymology 1

From Middle English undōn, from Old English ondōn, from Proto-West Germanic *andadōn (“to undo”), equivalent to un- +‎ do. Cognate with West Frisian ûndwaan, ûntdwaan (“to undo; rid”), Dutch ontdoen (“to undo”).

Verb

undo (third-person singular simple present undoes, present participle undoing, simple past undid, past participle undone) (transitive)

1. To reverse the effects of an action.

   Fortunately, we can undo most of the damage to the system by the war.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 4:

     Pro. […] it was a torment / To lay vpon the damn'd, which Sycorax / Could not againe vndoe ; it was mine Art, / When I arriu'd, and heard thee, that made gape / The Pyne, and let thee out.

   • 2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC Sport‎:

     But Wigan undid their good work by conceding an avoidable second goal deep into first-half injury time.

   • 2019 April 6, Caleb Quinley, “Thailand: Anti-military party leader faces sedition charges”, in Al Jazeera‎, Doha: Al Jazeera, retrieved 2019-04-06:

     And judging by how well the progressive and youth-favoured party did, many observers suspect this latest round of legal charges are a response to Future Forward's commitment to undo the legacy of military rule and undertake democratic reforms.

2. To unfasten.

   Could you undo my buckle for me?

3. (figuratively) To impoverish or ruin, as in reputation; to cause the downfall of.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC:

     Woe is me, for I am undone!

Synonyms

• (reverse effects): cancel, reverse
• (unfasten): unbuckle, unbutton, untie, unzip

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “reverse effects”): redo
• (antonym(s) of “unfasten”): do up, button, button up, tie up, zip, zip up,

Derived terms

• what's done cannot be undone

 

Descendants

• → Welsh: andwyo

Translations

to reverse

Aragonese: desfer Aromanian: disfac Asturian: desfacer Bulgarian: отменям (bg) (otmenjam), връщам обратно (vrǎštam obratno) Catalan: desfer (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 復原／复原 (zh) (fùyuán), 重做 (zh) (chóngzuò) Czech: odčinit, navrátit Dutch: ongedaan maken, tenietdoen (nl), ontdoen (nl) Esperanto: malfari Finnish: kumota (fi) French: annuler (fr), défaire (fr) Galician: desfacer (gl) Georgian: გაუქმება (gaukmeba), შებრუნება (šebruneba), ანულირება (anulireba) German: rückgängig machen, ungeschehen machen Hindi: उधेड़ना (hi) (udheṛnā) Hungarian: visszavon (hu), visszaállít (hu), helyreállít (hu), jóvátesz (hu), visszacsinál (hu), meg nem történtté tesz Italian: annullare (it), disfare (it) Japanese: 戻す (ja) (もどす, modosu), 取り消す (ja) (とりけす, torikesu) Latin: abrogo, destruo (la) Maori: whakakore Norwegian: rette opp, angre (no) Portuguese: desfazer (pt) Rapa Nui: kume Romanian: desface (ro) Russian: отменя́ть (ru) impf (otmenjátʹ), отмени́ть (ru) pf (otmenítʹ), возвраща́ть (ru) impf (vozvraščátʹ), верну́ть (ru) pf (vernútʹ) Scottish Gaelic: neo-dhèan Serbo-Croatian: opovrgnuti (sh), revertirati Sindhi: اڻڪرڻ (sd) Spanish: deshacer (es), revertir (es) Swedish: ångra (sv) (only when the person doing something is undoing own actions) Turkish: geri almak (tr) Vietnamese: hoàn tác Welsh: dad-wneud (cy)

to unfasten

Aromanian: disfac Basque: askatu Bulgarian: отварям (bg) (otvarjam), развързвам (bg) (razvǎrzvam) Chinese: Mandarin: 解開／解开 (zh) (jiěkāi) Dutch: losmaken (nl) Faroese: loysa Finnish: avata (fi), irrottaa (fi) French: défaire (fr), délier (fr) Georgian: გახსნა (gaxsna), შეხსნა (šexsna) German: aufmachen (de), öffnen (de), losmachen (de), lösen (de), abschnallen Hungarian: kinyit (hu), kigombol (hu), kikapcsol (hu), kiköt (hu), kifűz (hu), kibont (hu), kicsatol (hu), kiold (hu) Irish: scaoil Italian: slacciare (it) Japanese: はずす (ja) (hazusu), ほどく (ja) (hodoku), 解く (ja) (とく, toku) Maori: wete, wetewete, wewete, whakamatara, maheno Norwegian: løsne (no) Portuguese: desatar (pt) Romanian: desface (ro) Russian: расстёгивать (ru) impf (rasstjógivatʹ), расстегну́ть (ru) pf (rasstegnútʹ), развя́зывать (ru) impf (razvjázyvatʹ), развяза́ть (ru) pf (razvjazátʹ) Scottish Gaelic: fuasgail Serbo-Croatian: razvezati (sh) (what is tied), raskopčati (sh) (what is buttoned up) (what is buttoned up) Spanish: desatar (es) Turkish: çözmek (tr) Welsh: datod (cy)

Noun

undo (plural undos)

1. (computing) An operation that reverses a previous action.

   How many undos does this program support?

Translations

an operation that reverses a previous action

Hungarian: visszavonás (hu), visszaállítás (hu)

Etymology 2

Adjective

undo

1. Misspelling of undue.

Further reading

• undo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

1. “undo”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• udon

Latin

Etymology

From unda (“a wave”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈun.doː/, [ˈʊn̪d̪oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈun.do/, [ˈun̪d̪o]

Verb

undō (present infinitive undāre, perfect active undāvī, supine undātum); first conjugation

1. to rise in waves
2. to overflow with, abound in
3. to wave, undulate

Conjugation

Conjugation of undō (first conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	undō	undās	undat	undāmus	undātis	undant
	imperfect	undābam	undābās	undābat	undābāmus	undābātis	undābant
	future	undābō	undābis	undābit	undābimus	undābitis	undābunt
	perfect	undāvī	undāvistī	undāvit	undāvimus	undāvistis	undāvērunt, undāvēre
	pluperfect	undāveram	undāverās	undāverat	undāverāmus	undāverātis	undāverant
	future perfect	undāverō	undāveris	undāverit	undāverimus	undāveritis	undāverint
passive	present	undor	undāris, undāre	undātur	undāmur	undāminī	undantur
	imperfect	undābar	undābāris, undābāre	undābātur	undābāmur	undābāminī	undābantur
	future	undābor	undāberis, undābere	undābitur	undābimur	undābiminī	undābuntur
	perfect	undātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	undātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	undātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	undem	undēs	undet	undēmus	undētis	undent
	imperfect	undārem	undārēs	undāret	undārēmus	undārētis	undārent
	perfect	undāverim	undāverīs	undāverit	undāverīmus	undāverītis	undāverint
	pluperfect	undāvissem	undāvissēs	undāvisset	undāvissēmus	undāvissētis	undāvissent
passive	present	under	undēris, undēre	undētur	undēmur	undēminī	undentur
	imperfect	undārer	undārēris, undārēre	undārētur	undārēmur	undārēminī	undārentur
	perfect	undātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	undātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	undā	—	—	undāte	—
	future	—	undātō	undātō	—	undātōte	undantō
passive	present	—	undāre	—	—	undāminī	—
	future	—	undātor	undātor	—	—	undantor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		undāre	undāvisse	undātūrum esse	undārī	undātum esse	undātum īrī
participles		undāns	—	undātūrus	—	undātus	undandus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		undandī	undandō	undandum	undandō	undātum	undātū

Derived terms

• abundō
• exundō
• redundō

 

Descendants

• Aromanian: undedz, undari
• → English: undate
• Italian: ondare
• Portuguese: undar
• Romanian: unda, undare
• Spanish: ondear

References

• “undo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “undo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• undo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a thing finds credence, is credible: aliquid fidem habet (vid. also fides under sect. VII., History)
    
• “redound”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Lindu

Noun

undo

1. flattery