Unartistic is from un- ('not') + artistic. Artistic derives from artist + -ic, from French artiste, from Italian artista, from Medieval Latin artista, from Latin ars ('art, skill'). Important recorded forms include un- (Old English) and ars (Latin). Morphologically, the un- element marks negation, reversal, removal, or deprivation, while the base supplies the action, quality, or state being denied or undone. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers lacking artistic quality, taste, or skill. The wider family includes derived forms such as unartistically and related words such as artistic, art, artist, and artistry.