Unfinished refers to the state or quality of being incomplete, not fully realized, or lacking a finished appearance. It can be applied to various fields, such as art, literature, music, architecture, and construction. In art, unfinished works are often used to create a sense of mystery, urgency, or narrative purpose. They may feature incomplete lines, unfinished backgrounds and characters, and a limited color palette. In literature, unfinished works may be the result of the author's death, lack of interest, or inability to complete the work. They may also be intentional, leaving the reader to imagine the rest of the story. In music, unfinished works may be drafts, sketches, or fragments that were never completed or published. In architecture and construction, unfinished projects may be the result of budget constraints, design changes, or unforeseen circumstances. The concept of unfinished has been present throughout history and across cultures. It has been explored in various ways, from the unfinished sculptures of Michelangelo to the unfinished symphonies of Schubert. The meaning and interpretation of unfinished works may vary depending on the context, the artist's intention, and the viewer's perspective. Some may see unfinished works as a sign of imperfection or failure, while others may see them as an invitation to participate in the creative process.
incomplete, not fully realized, lacking finish, mystery, urgency, narrative purpose, imperfection, participation
CITATION : "William Robinson. 'Unfinished.' Design+Encyclopedia. https://design-encyclopedia.com/?E=362184 (Accessed on June 29, 2025)"
The English adjective Unfinished describes the state or quality of being incomplete. The word Unfinished is an adjective, and its variants include unfinish, unfinish'd, and unfinishing. A synonym for Unfinished is incomplete, and its antonyms are finished and completed. Cognates for the word Unfinished include the Dutch word onaf and the Spanish word inacabado.
Etymology, Morphology, Unfinished, Historical Change, Syntax, Word Classes.
The word “unfinished” has a long and convoluted history that can be traced back to the Indo-European root “nebh” meaning “not” or “without”. This root is seen in various words such as “nihil” and “negate”. This is then followed by the Old English “finitan”, which means “to end”. Later on, the word “unfinish” was introduced and is thought to be derived from a Middle English combination of the two words. Morphologically, “unfinished” contains an affix “un-” which is used to denote the opposite or negation of the action specified by the root. This can be seen in the action of finishing something, so something that is unfinished is not completed. Pragmatically, “unfinished” implies incompleteness or something that has not been completed or fully realized.
Unfinished Etymology Morphology Pragmatics Indo-European SEmantics Historical Evolution SEo
The term ‘unfinished’ can be defined as being incomplete and not yet completed. In the world of linguistics, many languages have varying terms to represent this concept. Among them are the Spanish words ‘inacabado’ and ‘incompleto’, the Portuguese ‘inacabado’ and ‘incompleto’, the French ‘inachevé’, the Italian ‘incompiuto’, the Hebrew ‘ḥōlem’, the Japanese ‘mikansei’, the Korean ‘mijeongeul’, the Mandarin ‘wèiwán’, the Urdu ‘adā’, the Tamil ‘śēngēl’, the Greek ‘akómos’ and the Armenian ‘avorats’. While most of these terms are generally used to describe something that is incomplete, the nuances between each translation may differ.
SEO terms for “unfinished” include inacabado, incomplete, inachevé, incompiuto, ḥōlem, mikansei, mijeongeul, wèiwán, adā, śēngēl, akómos, avorats
Unfinished is an artistic style in anime, comics, or manga that involves leaving a composition partially incomplete. It is used to create a sense of mystery, or to draw the viewer’s attention to the background or certain aspects of the scene. Unfinished works often employ a limited color palette, altered shadows, unfinished backgrounds and characters, as well as loose and incomplete lines. This style is often used to suggest a sense of urgency or a narrative purpose in the artwork.
Anime, comics, manga, Japan, art, technique, composition, painting, illustration, visual.
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