'unlubricated' originates from English, specifically formed from the prefix 'un-' plus the past participle 'lubricated', where 'un-' meant 'not' and 'lubricated' is derived from 'lubricate'.

'lubricate' ultimately comes from Latin 'lubricare' (from 'lubricus' meaning 'slippery'); it passed into Late Latin and French and then into English as 'lubricate', whose past participle 'lubricated' combined with the negative prefix 'un-' produced 'unlubricated'.

Initially related to the Latin sense of 'making slippery' ('lubricare'), the English 'lubricate' came to mean 'apply a substance to reduce friction'; 'unlubricated' therefore developed the straightforward opposite meaning 'not having lubricant applied'.