Unpopularity comes from un- ('not') + popularity, from popular, from Latin popularis ('belonging to the people'), from populus ('people'). In current use it is a noun meaning "the state of being disliked by many". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The prefix un- is negative or privative, marking the absence, denial, or opposite of the base idea. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English un- and Latin populus. Related English forms include popular, unpopular, and popularity. As a result, the modern word is best read as a negative, privative, or reversative formation built on a historically older base.