unkempt: [15] Unkempt means literally ‘uncombed’. It was coined from the prefix un- ‘not’ and the past participle of the now defunct verb kemb ‘comb’. This came from a prehistoric Germanic *kambjan, a derivative of *kambaz ‘comb’ (ancestor of the English noun comb). It began to be replaced by the new verb comb in the 14th century. => comb
unkempt (adj.)
1570s, from un- (1) "not" + kempt "well-combed, neat," from variant past participle of Middle English kemben "to comb," from Old English cemban "to comb," from Proto-Germanic *kambijan, from *kamb- "comb" (see comb (n.)). Form unkembed is recorded from late 14c. The verb kemb is rare after 1400s, but its negative past participle form endures.
