unknitadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈnɪt/, U.S. /ˌənˈnɪt/ That is not or has not been knit (in various senses of knit v.); not bound together or consolidated; disunited (literal and figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [adjective] > disjoining or disconnecting > not joined, united, or connected
uncoupled1377
unjoined1538
unclosed1551
unknitting1587
ununited1587
unknit1603
incommunicated1646
discontiguous1656
incontiguous1660
open1686
inconnected1742
disconnected1751
incoherent1768
uncemented1783
unconnected1829
disaffiliated1839
disconnect1845
inarticulate1852
unarticulated1861
ununified1862
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 218 The she beare..bringeth foorth her young whelpes, without forme or fashion, unknit and unjointed, having no distinct limmes or members to be seene.
a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Faire Maide of Inne iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Fffffff2/1 The petty brawles..shall like tender unknit joynts Fasten againe together of themselves.
1714 Bibliotheca Anatomica III. 6/1 Drive out any loose unknit Gravel, or small Stones.
1765 H. Fuseli tr. J. J. Winckelmann Refl. on Painting & Sculpt. Greeks 91 We may form a conclusion of the art itself, it wanted the true expression of childhood, as looser forms, more milkiness, and unknit bones.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iii. 136 Let us..Leave this unknit Republic to the scourge Of its own passions. View more context for this quotation
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. vii. 465 A loose, disordered and unknit state needs no shaking, but propping.
1936 Law & Contemp. Probl. 3 492 The fellow with an old or permanent injury such as a hernia, an unknit bone, an unhealed fracture, an abnormal joint condition.
1998 Zeitschrift f. französische Sprache 108 247 The unknit threads of a dis-embroidered pattern.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
unknitv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈnɪt/, U.S. /ˌənˈnɪt/ I. To untie, unfasten, or unravel. Cf. later unknot v.† 2. transitive. To unfasten or open (something tied or laced shut). Cf. knit v. 1b. Obsolete.† 3. transitive. To divest (oneself) of a belt or girth by untying or unfastening it. Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. transitive. To untie or to undo (a knot); to unfasten or loosen (something which ties or binds, as a cord, rope, etc.). Also intransitive: to become untied or undone; to come loose. Cf. knit v. 1a. rare after 17th cent.
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
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
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 16 Soþlice cymð strengra þonne ic, þæs ic ne eom wyrþe þæt ic hys sceoþwancg uncnytte.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 137 (MED) Ich nam noht ne forðen wurðe þat ich un-cnutte his sho þuong.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 8480 Taurus..knett hir to his hors tail Bi her tresse... An heþen swain sone doun stett Þe leuedis tresse sone vnknett.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 43 So þat þe more wynd he wol haue, he wil vnknette þe mo knottes.
a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 7091 (MED) Hir kerchefe lift vp wold he Hir visage there forto see; Tho thoght he hir kerchefe to vnknyt.
?a1450 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (BL Add. 12056) (1894) 170 Whanne þou hast sewid mirac & siphac togidere in a good maner, þanne knytte þe þredis togidere þat þei vnknytte not.
a1475 in W. L. Braekman Of Hawks & Horses (1986) 34 Take whyte sope..and holed yi hawke and put it in at hir towell, and knyth fast þe towell wt a threde..and þt wyll dyssolue þe ston and wast hym; þan take and onknytt þe threde þt sche may mutise.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 768/1 Unknyt my gyrdell, I praye you.
?c1547 Procession Edward VI in Leland's De Rebus Brit. Collectanea (1770) IV. 321 Then tooke he the said Rope, and..tyed himselfe by the Right Legg,..and after..unknet the Knot, and came downe again.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 66 Tying on her silken buskins with knots easily not vnknit.
1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xii. 147 Binde me you must upright both hand and foot, And so as I may not the knot unknit.
1930 Pop. Mech. Dec. 963/2 Pahlberg was able to unknit the knots.
b. transitive. In figurative contexts. Now rare.In later use sometimes influenced by sense 4.
ΚΠ
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Royal) (1981) l. 532 Ich habbe uncnut summe of þeos cnotti cnotten.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 556 To what peine sche is dyht, That in hire youthe hath so beset The bond which mai noght ben unknet.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. pr. iii. l. 4459 Þat som men wenen þat þei mowen assoilen and vnknytten þe knot of þis questioun.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) l. 3202 Wher so as her [sc. Venus] sort was set, The knot never was vnknet.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclviv Thilke falsheed..hath vnknyt the bonde of vnderstandyng reason bytwene wyl and the herte.
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 299 It is a soare that neuer openeth, and a bond yt neuer vnknitteth.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. i. 15 Will you againe vnknit This churlish knot of all abhorred war? View more context for this quotation
1613 R. Dallington Aphorismes Ciuill & Militarie v. xxx. 329 Valentinois findes the way stopped to his ambitious desseignes, vnlesse he can vnknit the knot of the late combination against him.
1664 Duchess of Newcastle CCXI Sociable Lett. cxx. 240 A Civil War..doth Unknit the Knot of Friendship.
a1708 T. Ward England's Reformation (1710) i. 113 Three day after, when they mett, A large dose did the Knot unknit, Which never after could be Ty'd.
1799 H. Wells Step-mother (ed. 2) II. xxiii. 103 The bond which unites me to the family of Malcolm is in some measure unknit, by the departure of Captain Campbell.
1850 W. R. Williams Relig. Progress (1854) iv. 82 Demoralization that unknits the bonds of obligation.
1984 Freeman July 394/1 My purpose is not to unknit the bonds of society.
ΚΠ
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) l. 1343 Now..vnknytte I a bagge.
1530 T. Elyot tr. Plutarch Educ. Children sig. E.ij He did vnknitte certen bagges of money.
1557 F. Seager Schoole of Vertue in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 339 Streight go thou to, and thy setchel vnknyt, Thy bokes take out, thy lesson then learne.
1652 D. Cudmore Hist. Ioseph 49 Each willingly his Sack unknit.
1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 36 With listless fingers, lingeringly unknitting Her silken bodice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (transitive)] > strip or undress a person > divest of specific garments > belt or girdle
ungirdc900
unbelt1483
unknita1605
disgird1610
ungirdle1619
a1605 in J. Gairdner Three 15th-cent. Chrons. (1880) 111 Ther he shall unknyte [a1500 Nero C.ix vngyrthe] hym and his swerde..shall offer to God and to Holy Churche moste devowtly.
4. transitive. To undo or unravel (a fabric, a mesh, a net, etc.). Now chiefly Knitting: to unravel (a section of knitting); esp. to undo (a stitch or stitches) one at a time in order to correct a mistake (cf. tink v.4). Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. knit v. 2.Also in figurative contexts.
ΚΠ
1739 T. Arnold Neues Deutsch-Englisches Wörter-Buch at Abtrennen To unstitch, unknit, unravel, unsow.
1795 E. Gunning tr. J. Du Castre d'Auvigny & P.-F. G. Desfontaines Mem. Madame de Barneveldt II. 250 Unknit this web of mischief.
1823 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 12 July 114 Part of them [sc. hats] is ripped in sunder; that is to say the plat is unknitted, and..knitted together again.
1868 J. Fernandez Henry's Junior Dictation Lessons cxiv. 114 The shock so upset the old lady that she had to unknit a great part of her stocking.
1892 Friendly Compan. Apr. 110 Unknit the stocking and let it down.
1982 Jrnl. Tribune (Biddeford, Maine) 12 May 4/1 Knitting socks all day only to unknit them all at night.
2012 D. T. Ratigan & J. Durant Knitting Know-how iv. 53/1 To be a flawless knitter, you have to be willing to unknit.
II. In extended use.† 6. transitive. To separate or detach (a thing) from something else; to free from a bond or connection; to disunite. Obsolete.In quot. a1450: to dissolve (a marriage).
5. † b. intransitive. spec. Of a swarm of bees: to break up; to disperse. Cf. knit v. 6c. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To cause to disintegrate; to make less cohesive or united; to weaken (literal and figurative). Also intransitive: to disintegrate; to lose cohesion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to > binding relationships, vows, etc.
unbindc1175
unsteekc1250
loose1340
dissolvec1380
unknita1382
sundera1400
untwinec1400
unsolder1538
unlace1577
untwind1600
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. ii. 3 Oure lif shal passe as the step of a cloude, and as a litil cloude ben vnknyt [a1425 L.V. departid as a myst], that is dryuen of the bemes of the sunne.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xi. 1140 Spiþeres dredeþ wynde for by blast of wynde þe coppeweb is soone ybroke and vnknytte [L. rumpitur et subito denodatur].
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. l. 213 So god..suffred to be solde to see þe sorwe of deyinge, The which vnknitteth al kare & comsynge is of reste.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Biijv Logique is bounde..to knitte true argumentes, and vnknit false.
1592 J. Lyly Gallathea iii. i. sig. D2v I feele my thoughts vnknit.
1650 H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans 53 Shut out all distractions That may unknit My heart.
1784 New Ann. Reg. 1783 Brit. & Foreign Hist. 71/2 To run headlong into projects that went to unknit the frame of our government, was phrenzy and not wisdom.
1876 J. Bascom Philos. Relig. xiii. 492 Spontaneity transcends logic in the same degree that it transcends force; and unknits predestination, the dogma of the theologian.
1906 Times 14 Sept. 7/4 The prevalence of terrorist crime threatens to unknit the foundations of society.
1987 C. Barker Weaveworld ix. iii. 525 Another tremor, more fierce than any that had preceded it, unknitted the foundations of the building.
1994 Observer (Nexis) 26 June 13 As his game began to unknit, the more he began to unravel.
ΚΠ
1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. F3v Then may you bid them farewel: for presentlie they begin to vnknit, and to be gone.
1780 J. Keys Pract. Bee-master ix. 128 They presently unknit and depart, unless they be immediately hived.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate [verb (transitive)]
to-twemec893
sunderOE
asunderOE
shedOE
dealOE
shill1049
skillc1175
to-twinc1175
twinc1230
disseverc1250
depart1297
slita1300
to-throwc1315
parta1325
drevec1325
devisec1330
dividec1374
sever1382
unknit?a1425
divorce1430
separea1450
separate?a1475
untine1496
to put apart1530
discussa1542
deceper1547
disseparate1550
apart1563
unjoint1565
shoal1571
divisionatea1586
single1587
dispart1590
descide1598
disassociate1598
distract1600
dissolve1605
discriminate1615
dissociate1623
discerpa1628
discind1640
dissunder1642
distinguish1648
severize1649
unstring1674
skaila1833
cleave1873
dirempt1885
?a1425 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Lamb. 472) (2000) i. xii. l. 278 Thys spirit wole unknytten and undo Jhesu from the soule, and therfore it is not of God.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1658 Þanne is to hym [read hem] an helle, hire mariage Þanne þei desyren for to be vnknyt.
c1450 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) I. 76 Weyr he unknytte, al this worldes rychesse Ne myghte noghte yow two knyttyn in feir.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Rawl.) (1974) 152 Vnknytt your thoughtis from all affeccions that steren and meve yow owtward.
1642 King Charles I Let. both Houses 7 Ambitious spirits, that may disjoynt and unknit his Majesty and this House.
7. † a. transitive. To prevent (a broken bone) from healing; (also intransitive) to cause the healing of a bone to cease. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 158v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Unknitten A drynke to knytte a broken bone..Ȝiffe þe siyke to drinke þerof a grete drauȝte at ones & noon oftere, for if he do, it wille vnknytte þe bone aȝen.
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 66 (MED) Ley the plaster vp-on an euyn bord, and ley þe broken leg þer-on and sette hit euene..and gif hym to drynke þe ius of knytte-wort twyes, and no more; for at þe þrydde tyme hit vn-kyttyþ [read vn-knyttyþ].
b. transitive. To break, loosen, or weaken (a joint or junction); esp. to injure or weaken (a joint, sinew, etc., in the body); to dislocate (a bone, limb, etc.). Also intransitive: to become weakened or disjointed. Now rare.Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate [verb (transitive)] > disjoin, disunite, or disconnect
unlime?c1225
unjoin1340
discouplec1440
disannex1459
disjoin1483
uncouplea1533
unjoint1565
sejoin1568
sejungate1578
unknit1580
disjoint1582
unlinkc1585
uncombine1595
disunite1598
sejunge1598
discombine1603
injoint1603
dislink1610
unthreada1616
unyokea1616
sejugate1623
disconnect1758
dijunge1768
unconnect1796
disally1864
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate, come, or go apart [verb (intransitive)] > become disjoined or disconnected
discombine1603
unlink1642
disunite1675
unknit1748
unjoint1777
disconnect1790
disarticulate1830
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong at Desnouer To vnknitte a bone, to put out of ioynte.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 35 Thee ioyncturs vnknit, with an horribil hurring Pat fals thee turret.
1621 E. Grimeston tr. N. Coeffeteau Table Humane Passions 465 Many accidents which slacken and vnknit all the ioynts and ligatures of the body.
1663 T. Southland Love a la Mode iii. i. 32 He crinkles In the hams, as if the French-man had unknit his joynts, Or calcinated all his bones in the flames of Venery.
1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice 6 The private Magistrates are as it were the Nerves and Bones..; and the Council of Ten are the ligaments, hindring the parts from unknitting.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 15 Rain..loosens and unknits all the Nerves of the Building.
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence i. xxiii For whomsoe'er the villain takes in hand, Their joints unknit, their sinews melt apace.
1842 W. Wordsworth Poems Early & Late Years 141 Where for ages they have lain..With life's best sinews more and more unknit.
1864 N. Wiseman Serm. Moral Subj. xv. 263 The feeble worm will have unknitted the limbs of the vigorous and the strong.
1936 N.Y. Times 25 Oct. iv. 8 e/5 When one is afraid or timid, the knees have a tendency to unknit and become weakened.
1996 S. Shinn Archangel xvi. 273 It was not her bones but her muscles that betrayed her, becoming shaky and loose and unreliable, unknitting from her elbows and her knees.
8. To release or loose (something contracted or twisted together).
a. transitive. To unclench (a muscle, the fist, etc.); esp. to relax (a frown or scowl); to cease to furrow or wrinkle (the forehead) in anxiety, concentration, etc. Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. knit v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > forehead > [verb (transitive)] > contract or relax
knitc1405
strain1556
unknit1566
unpleat1572
unfret1594
unplaitc1595
smooth1597
uncontract1628
plait1642
to roll into ——1656
unbend1718
gather1790
knot1844
1566 J. Studley tr. Seneca Medea iv. f. 32 He that wyth pinche of gripyng fyste doth bruse the adders twayne, His strenyng harde & claspyng hande, let him vnknitt agayne.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 388 To unknit the frownes and unbend the browes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) v. ii. 141 Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning [sic] vnkinde brow. View more context for this quotation
1710 J. Ozell tr. A. Tassoni Secchia Rapita i. 16 If haply Thou unknit thy studious Brow, And to thy pond'ring Breast some Ease allow.
1787 J. Bentham Panopticon (1791) xxi. 112 You may unknit your brow, for I shall say no more about the matter.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 339 If again petty jealousies..prevail to unknit their hands from the armoured grasp.
1893 Proc. Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Physical Educ. 1892 87 There is a scientific use of this other form of relaxation, to unknit your muscles.
1931 Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) 6 Sept. 10- b/5 Unknit your forehead and open wide your eyes.
2003 Times 9 Dec. (T2 section) 14/4 Although I emit the occasional curse and groan, it is a satisfying pain as he unknits my back.
b. transitive. To disentwine (a thing or things entwined or interlaced); to disentangle. Cf. knit v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > uncoiling or unwinding > uncoil or unwind [verb (transitive)] > untwine or untwist
untwinec1407
outtwinea1500
untwist1538
unknit1599
unravel1603
ravel1607
spret1832
1599 T. Storer Life & Death Wolsey sig. C Grow where you list, in me your rootes vnknit.
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis iv. 103 Before the doors of Adamant they sit; And there with combs their snaky curles vnknit.
1714 P. Turner Pindaric Ode 6 Alecto's Snakes their Curls unknit.
1765 St. James's Chron. 18 May Now suppose these [French workmen] were to turn their Parchments for Measures, into Drum-heads, to unknit their cross Legs, and stand up against us.
1849 A. Carey in R. W. Griswold Female Poets of Amer. 372/2 From the loose flowing of her amber hair, The summer flowers we long ago unknit.
1889 Peterson's Mag. June 539/1 The rattlesnake..lay knitting and unknitting his helpless coils.
1909 Strand Mag. Jan. 41/2 His fingers still knitted and unknitted themselves upon the helve of the great axe.
1999 A. Burton Thomas Telford (2015) xv. 194 Towpaths to either side to that boats would never again need to unknit a tangle of ropes.
2009 S. L. Brown in M. Golden It's all Love 364 Leleti threaded her fingers through John's and nodded. He unknit their hands and started the ignition.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1603v.OE