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▪ I. unˈman, n. rare.
[un-1 12, 4 b. Cf. OE. unmann, Du. onman, MLG., MHG. unman.]
a. One below the status of a man.
b. A monster.
a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 336/295 Þou seidest I scholde ben holden an vn-mon. a1641in Vox Borealis C 1 b (Old adage), Waters shall waxe, and Woods shall waine, And unman shall be Man, and Man shall be naine. 1879G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xxi, He was on the wild hill, with miles on miles of cover! Here the unman could not catch him.
▪ II. unˈman, v.
[un-2 6 b. Cf. MDu. (Du.) ontmannen, MHG. (G.) entmannen.]
1. trans. To deprive of the attributes of a man; to remove from the category of men.
1598Marston Sco. Villanie ii. vii. (1599) 204 Why, sower Satyrist, Canst thou vnman him? here I dare insist And soothly say, he is a perfect soule. 1643Tuckney Balm of G. 40 It is..the cruell man (saith Solomon) that troubles his owne flesh; nay the Apostle un-manneth him that hates it. 1681Baxter Acc. Sherlocke vi. 212 Every Humanist that useth..gawdy fashions, is not thereby unchristened, unchurched, or unman'd. 1711G. Hickes Two Treat. Chr. Priesth. (ed. 3) I. p. ccx, We cannot suppose that infinite Goodness would bind us..to such strict unalterable Duties, as unman us in this World. 1751R. Shirra in Rem. (1850) 86 The first [Ebion] ungods him; the other [Marcion] unmans him. 1884Browning Ferishtah, Family 77, I may put forth angel's plumage, once unmanned, but not before.
2. To reduce below the level of man; to degrade, brutalize. Also refl.
1637A. Stafford Vind. Fem. Glory (1860) p. xxii, Hee that is not tender..unmanneth himselfe, and is but best a Monster..in humane shape. 1660tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. i. vii. 106 They whom barbarisme ha's unman'd in all other things. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome 246 Habits of Vice unman Men's minds.
3. To deprive of manly courage or fortitude; to make weak or effeminate.
c1600Chalkhill Thealma & Clearchus 846 They heard they had unmann'd themselves by ease. 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 73 What? quite vnmann'd in folly... Fie for shame. a1628F. Grevil Poems, Hum. Learn. xlii, Engines that did un-man the mindes of men. 1673Hickeringill Greg. F. Greyb. 318 Impressions of fear that mollifie and unman vulgar and narrow spirits. 1715Addison Drummer iii. i, That dear Woman! the sight of her unmans me. 1736A. Hill Zara v. i. 64 Tears!.. The first which ever yet un⁓mann'd my Eyes! 1780Mirror No. 90, This blow, for a time, unmanned me quite. 1847Prescott Peru I. 441 For a moment the overwhelming conviction of it unmanned him. 1883Manch. Exam. 24 Nov. 5/1 Thirty or forty years of such treatment is enough to unman any people.
absol.1811Byron Euthanasia vi, And women's tears, produced at will, Deceive in life, unman in death.
4. To divest of the character of a grown man. Also intr. (for refl.).
1672Penn Spir. Truth Vind. 23 As he is unmanned, that is, again become a little Child. 1889Harper's Mag. Jan. 191/2 But find where children haunt, and there unman, And with them laugh and play.
5. To deprive of virility; to emasculate.
1684–9A. G. in Plutarch's Morals (1718) IV. 334 Because the Samians had saved the Children of the Greeks from being unmann'd [tr. 1603 from eviration]. 1885E. Clodd Myths & Dreams 36 Gæa..provided Cronus..with an iron sickle, wherewith he unmanned Uranus.
6. To denude (a vessel or fleet) of men.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To unman a Ship, desarmer un Vaisseau. 1696in London Gaz. No. 3250/1 After the Fleet has been Manned, it hath been in a great Measure Unmanned again by Desertion. 1796Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. p. xxxiv, If the Admiral had small Vessels, he could not venture to unman his Fleet.
7. fig. To deprive (oneself) of something.
1694R. Franck North. Mem. Ded. p. xv, Let me admonish the more Ingenious Artist to be mindful of Experience, lest peradventure he slide into the slippery Tract of an Author, so unman himself of practical Demonstration.
Hence unˈmanning vbl. n. and ppl. a.; unˈmanningly adv.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God vii. xxiv. 285 Here they feare not the vn-manning of them-selues. 1624Middleton Game at Chess i. i, I never give absolution To any crime of that unmanning nature. 1831Coleridge Table-t. 12 Sept., The most wretched and unmanning reluctance and shrinking from action. 1886Stevenson Dr. Jekyll 58 A place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning. 1947Dylan Thomas in Horizon Dec. 302 For who unmanningly haunts the mountain caverned eaves. |