| 释义 |
unˈspell, v.
[un-2 3.]
1. trans. To undo or dissolve (a spell).
1611Cotgr., Descharmer, to vncharme, vnspell, frustrate a charme. 1671Tuke Adv. 5 Hours v. (ed. 3) 94 Her. Sure w'are enchanted, and all we see's illusion. Cam. Allow me, Henrique, to unspel these Charms.
2. To free from a spell.
1635Quarles Embl. iv. xv, Ah, if my voyce could, Orpheus⁓like, unspell My poore Eurydice, my soul, from hell. 1681Dryden (Tate) Abs. & Achit. ii. 117 Such Practices as These, too gross to lye Long unobserv'd,..The more judicious Israelites Unspell'd, Though still the Charm the giddy Rabble held. 1777Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 6 Oct., I am glad Master unspelled you, and run you all on rocks. 1890Handbk. Folklore (ed. Gomme) 132 A prince is transformed into a loathsome beast;..he is unspelled and they marry.
†3. To decipher, read. Obs.—1
1665Sergeant in Digby Nat. Bodies *4 Even that great Soule, which fathomes th' Universe, Unspells the Heaven's broad volume.
4. (See quot.)
1846Printing Apparatus for Amateurs 34 In the process of distributing [the type] the word is unspelt, beginning with the first letter of the word.
Hence unˈspelling vbl. n. Also attrib.
1897A. Nutt in K. Meyer Voy. Bran II. 16 Manawyddan obtains..the unspelling of the land. 1902― Leg. Holy Grail 52 The unspelling theme. Ibid. 53 In Crestien..it is subordinated to the unspelling quest. |