unmailv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈmeɪl/, U.S. /ˌənˈmeɪl/ archaic and rare in later use.† 1. transitive. To break through or remove (a coat of mail). Obsolete.In quot. c1460 in figurative context: to break down (a person's defences).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > wear body armour [verb (transitive)] > detach links of (mail coat)
unmailc1460
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Mercatorum (Harl.) l. 668 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 508 How many a man hath Fortune assayled.., Her habiriownys of steel also vnmayled!
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) iii. 79 Ye sholde haue seen..many a goode haubergen vnmayled.
1860 J. S. Blackie Lyrical Poems 149 I will unmail me here.
2. transitive. To remove the shell of (a crustacean). Cf. mail n.3 2d.In quot. 2006 apparently with direct allusion to quot. c1475.
ΚΠ
c1475 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1911–14) 56 Crabbe ys mynyde..Crauys ys vn maylyde.
2006 C. Dart-Thornton Well of Tears v. 140 ‘Chine the bream, gobbet the trout!’ he declared. ‘Unmail the crayfish, and as for the crab, tame and mime him!’
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > [noun] > coat of mail or corselet > breaking links of
unmailing1578
1578 M. Tyler tr. D. Ortúñez de Calahorra Mirrour Princely Deedes xxi. f. 48v He set Raiartes in such a heat..that the vnlacing of his helme and the vnmayli [n] g of his armour could scar[c]e giue him breath inough.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Desmaillure, an vnmailing; an vndoing..of maile.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.c1460- for nothing
- for notice sake
- for nought
- for now
- for nuts
- for occasionally by lack of
- for occasionally from lack of
- for occasionally through lack of
- for odd or even
- for old sake's sake
- for old times' sake
- for once
- for once and all
- for once and away
- for once and ever
- for once in a way
- for once in etc life
- for once in my life
- for once in your life
- for one
- for one moment
- for one thing
- for one while
- for one's better arm
- for one's frame