unearth means to drive or draw from the earth. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
unearth is pronounced /ʌnˈɜː(ɹ)θ/.
Why “unearth” is a great word
UNEARTH — [Verb] To dig up from the earth or to discover and bring to light, as if from concealment. From Middle English *unherthen*, equivalent to the prefix *un-* (meaning "to reverse an action") + *earth*. Unlike “discover,” a general term for finding, or “exhume,” a clinical term for disinterment, “unearth” carries the grit of excavation into the realm of revelation. It is the gardener’s trowel striking a Roman coin, the archivist’s hand lifting a lost manuscript from a dusty crate, the quiet question that dislodges a buried truth—each act a retrieval from the dark custody of the ground, subtly rearranging the present by disturbing the past.
verb
- To drive or draw from the earth.“to unearth a fox or a badger”
- To dig up.“Modern archaeological excavations have unearthed the remains of a large number of ancient cities that lay buried deep under the sands for more than a thousand years, along the trade route from Bactria to China passing between the Tien Shan mountains in the north and the desert of Taklamakan in the south.”
- To uncover or find; to bring out from concealment.“Near-synonym: discover”