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▪ I. unˈtidy, a.
[ME. untīdi (un-1 7), = WFris. on-, ûntidich, MDu. ontidich (Du. ontijdig), MLG. untidich, OHG. unzitich (MHG. unzitec, -zitic, G. unzeitig), MSw. otidig, (M)Da., Norw. utidig untimely, unseasonable, unfavourable, etc.]
†1. Untimely, unseasonable; unsuitable, unseemly.
a1225Leg. Kath. 2400 Aflei from ham al uuel, Weorre & weane baðe, & untidi wederes! 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 118 With his vntydy tales he tened ful ofte Conscience and his compaignye. 1393Ibid. C. x. 262 The tarre is vntydy þat to þyne sheep by-longeþ. c1440Promp. Parv. 367/2 On-tydy, intemptatus (P. intemperatus). 1661J. Arnway Tablet 91 Hitherto ye are come by an untidy Parliament, wherein..many..made grievous..shiprack of the Faith.
2. Of poor, mean, or uncared-for appearance; not kept in good order; not neat or orderly.
For the break in the evidence (as in the adv. above), cf. the history of tidy a. (esp. sense 4).
c1350Will. Palerne 1455 Sche schal..haue mo solempne cites and semliche casteles, þan ȝe treuly han smale tounes or vntydi houses. a1529Skelton E. Rummyng 151 Theyr lockes about theyr face, Theyr tresses vntrust,..Full vntydy tegges, Lyke rotten egges. 1545Bale Image Both Ch. i. ix. (1550) K i, Bishoppes, preestes, monkes,..were poore, abiecte, and vntydye. 1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) I. 116 Therfore this vntydie ground of ours, bringeth forth so many weedes.
[1775Ash.] 1824Carr Craven Gloss. 119 Unheppen,..indecent, untidy. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Untidy, unclean; sluttish. 1855Poultry Chron. II. 541 The untidy one [sc. bee-keeper] permits cobwebs to occupy the corners of the bee-shed. 1884F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 4 There can be nothing so untidy about a house as children and chickens.
Hence unˈtidiness.
[1775Ash.] 1845E. B. Barrett Lett. Browning (1899) I. 115, I rather like blots than otherwise—being a sort of patron⁓saint of all manner of untidyness. 1875W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 13, I must be in a dreadful state of untidyness.
▪ II. unˈtidy, v.
[un-2 3, or f. untidy a.]
trans. To make untidy.
1891R. Dowling Isle of Surrey 112 He was busy tidying, or rather untidying, his room all one day. 1893Baring-Gould Cheap Jack Zita I. 192 The wildness of her appearance thus untidied by the wind. |