untiev.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈtʌɪ/, U.S. /ˌənˈtaɪ/ 1. absolute.1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 193 The unlearned..use to think it a matter of greater strength..to teare asunder, than to unty.
a. transitive. To release, set free, detach, by undoing a cord or similar fastening.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > untie > release by untying
untiec1000
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 2 Þonne sona finde gyt ane assene getiggede..: untigeað hig, and lædað to me.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 5 Hwæt do gyt þone folan untigende?
a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 784 He it [sc. Bucephalus] vntyed & lete gon.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Mark xi. 5 Thei..founden a colt tied bifor the ȝate,..and thei vntieden hym.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 768/2 I untey,..je deslie. Untey my hosen.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades viii. 147 His goodly steedes the Marine god..vnties.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xci. 10 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 137 From snare..He shall thee sure vnty.
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. xii. 256 Untye him, and give him meat.
1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (lx. 6 Annot.) 307/1 As when the Master reaches out his shooe to his meanest servant, to be untyed and taken off by him.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 229 They said,..if they unty'd her [sc. a cow] they should see which Way she went.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. ix. 208 I climb'd my vessel's lofty side; My train obey'd me and the ship unty'd.
1794 W. Wordsworth Guilt & Sorrow lxiv They..busily..untie Her garments.
1847 R. W. Emerson Initial, Dæmonic, & Celestial Love in Poems 171 Therefore comes an hour from Jove Which his ruthless will defies, And the dogs of Fate unties.
b. To free from a confining or encircling cord, bond, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > set free [verb (transitive)] > from confinement > free from specific type of bonds
unfetter1362
untiec1450
ungyve1531
unsnare1550
unmanacle1582
unhalter1584
uncollar1611
uniron1611
unshackle1611
dismanacle1628
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > free from a band, bond, etc.
undoc930
unbindc950
untrussc1400
untiec1450
ungird1485
ungirth1580
unchain1582
unbrace1593
ungirt1598
unpinion1660
unlash1699
release1779
disengirdle1871
c1450 Cov. Myst. (1922) 224 Goo forthe,..and lazare ȝe vntey, And all his bondys losyth hem asundyr.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) ci. 333 Huon came to ye fote of ye ladder, where as he founde Gerames as then not vntyed.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 21 I prethee sister Kate, vntie my hands. View more context for this quotation
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 238 He unties all the Pages of that Quarter.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 38 Untye your Cucumbers, but take care the Meat don't come out.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 471 With slow deliberation he unties His glitt'ring purse.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Peter Bell III vi, in Poet. Wks. (?1840) 243/2 All these Reviews the Devil made Up in a parcel... Peter..Untied them—read them.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. lv. 223 The executioner has untied your hands.
c. In various figurative uses.
ΚΠ
13.. Cast. Love (Harl.) 1603 Hevyn and erthe shull byn aleyde, And the foure elementes shull be unteyede.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 21 If thou be forto wyte In eny point..Wherof thi wittes ben unteid.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Linguam resoluere,..to vntie his tongue.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. L7 Before this time the like breach..could neuer deuide vs, but what (mischiefe) shall I nowe terme it..that..shoulde in this hatefull and vilde sorte, giue meane to vntie vs.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 68 Though you vntye the Windes, and let them fight Against the Churches. View more context for this quotation
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa II. i. vi. 131 I will vntye my Soule from that Cley which invirons it.
1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 31 I cannot bind my self, for I may untye my self again.
a1845 W. Wordsworth Crusaders in Eccl. Sonn. 10 When Heaven unties Her inmost,..tenderest harmonies.
1847 B. Disraeli Tancred II. iv. iv. 206 We shall be at Hebron before they untie their eyelids.
2. figurative.1581 G. Ellyot Very True Rep. Taking of E. Campion To Rdr. sig. A3 Euen then, by Gods great goodnesse,..all their..diuelishe deuises and practises weare so broken and vntyed in me..that [etc.].
a. To undo, unfasten (a cord, knot, etc.); also transferred to relax (a hold).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)] > untie
unknitOE
solvec1440
unfret1496
unknot1571
delace1581
untie1581
disbinda1638
unscure1749
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. xi. sig. L4v He forst him to vnty One of his grasping feete.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus iii. iv. 1378 If he will not vnty the purse stringes of his liberality.
1639 J. Taylor Part Summers Trav. 18 You might have untyde it [sc. a halter], that it might have serv'd another time.
a1718 M. Prior Love Disarmed 39 The Chain I'll in Return unty; And freely Thou again shalt fly.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. viii. 339 A snare Of bands indissoluble, by no art To be untied.
1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate i She untied and removed her veil.
b. figurative. To solve or clear away (a difficulty). Frequently with knot in figurative sense (cf. knot n.1 10).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
(a)
(b)a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 242 'Tis still a Dreame..Or senselesse speaking, or a speaking such As sense cannot vntye . View more context for this quotation1649 W. Davenant Love & Honour iv. iv. 80 We must to Delphos sure t'untie these doubts..with an oracle.1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence 65 The whole party wanders in eternal intricacies, and inextricable riddles; which..themselves cannot untie.a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xiii. sig. Y1 The loue of him commaunded him to preserue his life: which knot might well be cut, but vntied it could not be.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. ii. 41 O time, thou must vntangle this, not I; It is too hard a knot for me t'vnty. View more context for this quotation
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. i. 65 A Gordian knot, which no Writer helpes me to unty.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. xxxii. 120 He will endeavour to untie Knots as well as to tie them.
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires ii. v. 56 I know the Doubles of the mazy Laws, Unty their Knots, and plead with vast Applause.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IV. vii. 88 That is cutting the knot, said my father, instead of untying it.
1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 714 We cannot cut the knot: we must, therefore, take time to untie it.
1889 S. Walpole Life Ld. J. Russell II. 374 The new King tried to cut instead of untying the Gordian knot.
c. figurative. To dissolve (a bond, esp. of union).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > deprive of status, undo
undoc970
loose1340
unfoundc1430
dissolvea1513
unconfirm1551
disestablish1598
untie1609
discribe1647
unestablish1649
unappoint1682
negative1793
uncollegiate1851
(a)
(b)1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. iii. 101 The amity that wisdom knits not, folly may easily vnty . View more context for this quotationa1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 256 Come hither Spirit, Set Caliban, and his companions free: Vntye the Spell. View more context for this quotationa1683 A. Sidney Disc. Govt. (1698) iii. §15. 316 But if these obligations were untied, we may easily guess [etc.].a1637 B. Jonson Loves Wel-come sig. Ppv in Wks. (1640) III A true-love Knot, will hardly be unti'd.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iv. xlvii. 385 First, the Power of the Popes was dissolved... And so was untyed the first knot.
1671 R. McWard True Non-conformist 166 Unless the error be of greater importance,..it ought not to unty the bond of the unity of the Catholick Church.
1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 685 Profusion..unties the knot Of union.
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel vi. ii. 162 Land of my sires! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band, That knits me to thy rugged strand!
1895 Daily News 15 Nov. 7/3 If a husband got tired of his wife,..the State winked at a collusive suit by which the knot was untied.
3. intransitive. To become loosened or untied.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > be loosened, unfastened, or undone [verb (intransitive)]
unfastenc1315
unknitc1330
unloose1580
untie1590
loose1770
unbind1827
1590 Tarltons Newes out of Purgatorie 30 He threwe his armes about him with such violence, that his wide sleeue vntyed.
1651 Bp. J. Taylor XXVIII Serm. v. 59 Then their resolution unties like the cords of vanity or the gossamere against the violence of the Northen winde.
1651 Bp. J. Taylor XXVIII Serm. xxiii. 290 Their promises are but fair language,..and disband and unty like the air that beat upon their teeth, when [etc.].
Derivatives
unˈtied adj.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > [adjective] > loose, unfastened, or untied
loose1488
lash1513
untied1565
ungirt1579
unfastened1587
untucked1609
unreeved1730
unfixed1805
untaken1836
unbonded1878
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Recinctus Zona recincta, a girdle vntied.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Knight of Malta v. i, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Mmmmm3/1 I am..a vessell crack'd, A zoane untide.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xlvii. 131 She..had to supply the man with untied sheaves.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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v.c1000