† unriddlen.
Obsolete. rare.
A solution of a riddle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > solution of puzzle, riddle, etc. > [noun]
unriddle1756
1756 Connoisseur No. 107. ⁋7 Reading over the Riddles, and Unriddles, the Questions, and the Answers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
unriddlev.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈrɪdl/, U.S. /ˌənˈrɪd(ə)l/ transitive. To solve, explain (a mystery, etc.). Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. riddle v.2 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > solution of puzzle, riddle, etc. > explain a riddle [verb (intransitive)]
unriddlea1586
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > solution of puzzle, riddle, etc. > expound, solve [verb (transitive)]
areadOE
readOE
expound1535
unriddlea1586
riddle me a riddle1588
to riddle forth1624
riddle1627
to riddle out1647
rede1725
discruciatea1745
redd1876
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. vii. sig. Mm5 But nowe Amphialus helped to vnriddle his doubts; for he [etc.].
1634 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman (new ed.) xii. 111 I will give you..examples of these, with which..you may easily unriddle the rest.
a1642 J. Suckling Goblins i. 7 in Fragmenta Aurea (1646) Pray, unriddle.
1653 R. Codrington Lloyd's Marrow of Hist. (new ed.) 1 This at first may seem a paradox; but upon a deliberate consideration it will easily unriddle it self.
1715 J. Addison Spectator No. 567. ¶7 If any sagacious Person can fairly unriddle it, I will print his Explanation.
1768 H. Walpole Mysterious Mother iv. vi Unriddle, priest. My soul is too impatient To wait [etc.].
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers iv. ii. 371 Take this description altogether, and it would require an Œdipus to unriddle it.
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 175 No, no-where can [I] unriddle..why ye..Should cower beneath..untremendous might.
1858 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire VI. liii. 218 To unriddle some of the perplexing questions.
1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. 194 If we can unriddle the railway mystery, all may yet come right.
1941 E. R. Eddison Fish Dinner viii. 142 You, Signor, who are reputed perfect in your knowledge of all sciences and disciplines..can you unriddle me this: why must I, being that I am, have a body?
1988 J. Hersey Here to Stay Pref. p. vii I could wish that a great secret could have been embedded in these tales, so that a reader could unriddle it between the lines.
2004 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 29 Apr. 45/1 Nor..is the notorious obscurity of some of his poems so surprising, since all mysteries are unriddled in God's eye.
Derivatives
unˈriddling n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > puzzle, enigma, riddle > solution of puzzle, riddle, etc. > [noun] > act of solving
unriddling1668
1668 N. Fairfax Let. 18 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1967) IV. 183 If there may be foreboding dreams of things, wch thoughtless beings ar imployd to bring about, neither then will our unriddleing of it thus serve ye turn.
1749 T. Nugent Grand Tour III. viii. 296 The unriddling of this epitaph has exercised a great many ingenious men.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III xxviii. 17 The cause being past his guessing or unriddling.
1991 D. DeLillo Mao II At Yankee Stadium 15 He is Lord of the Second Advent, the unriddling of many ills.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1756
v.a1586