unrequitedadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnrᵻˈkwʌɪtᵻd/, U.S. /ˌənrəˈkwaɪdᵻd/ 1. Of a gift, service, etc.: not repaid or rewarded. Of an injury, wrong, etc.: not avenged or retaliated for.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > [adjective] > (of love) unrequited
unrequited1556
requiteless1854
the mind > emotion > gratitude > ingratitude > [adjective] > unrewarded
unforyoldenOE
unacquit1390
unmeedya1400
unquita1400
guerdonless?c1400
unrewarded?a1425
unguerdoned1433
unrecompensed1469
rewardless1481
unrequited1556
unrepaid1592
requiteless1606
desertless1607
uncompensated1823
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > [adjective] > relating to retaliation > retaliated > not
unquita1400
unyoldenc1540
unrequited1556
unquitteda1678
unretaliated1683
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties i. f. 20 To leaue ought vnrequited [L. non reddere], is not law full for a good man: so he may doo it withoute iniurie.
1586 W. Warner Æneidos in Albions Eng. sig. Q.i Not with vnrequited blowes, was Turnus Disarmed.
1622 J. Hagthorpe in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 347 If from a friend some trifle we receiue,..We think ourselues ungratefull if we leaue These vnrequited.
1634 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. Hist. New Test. (STC 12640.5) 113 Who can ever say, Lord, this favour I did to the least of thine, unrequited?
a1771 T. Gray Agrippina in Poems (1775) 131 Benefits too great To be repaid, Sit heavy on the soul, As unrequited wrongs.
1793 J. Tweddell Remains (1815) 48 Productive..of unrequited bloodshed.
1857 J. H. Newman Serm. Var. Occasions xii. 261 The times of patience,..of humble, unrequited service.
1915 T. G. Soares Social Inst. & Ideals Bible iv. 49 The bitter unrequited toil which the great kings and nobles exacted from their hordes of captives.
1947 Manch. Guardian 16 Apr. 6/7 These great balances can never be discharged or even diminished except by unrequited exports unbalanced by imports.
2004 P. R. Kumaraswamy in E. Karsh Israel 255 The prolonged Israeli overtures remained unrequited.
2. Of a feeling, esp. love or desire: not reciprocated, not returned. In later use also applied to love, desire, etc., which is thwarted or remains unfulfilled for reasons other than lack of reciprocation.
ΚΠ
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. G.ii (heading) Complaint for true loue vnrequited.
1645 D. North Forest of Varieties i. 40 He that loves with unrequited love, And finds his heat ingender no reflection.
1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 333/2 Thus begins his [sc. Ovid's] Remedy for such unrequited Love.
1767 T. Hull Perplexities iv. 59 No hope of perfect, or of lasting rest, While unrequited love corrodes the breast.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion vi. 254 He was crazed in brain By unrequited love.
1865 C. M. Yonge Clever Woman I. 298 Sisterly affection cannot blind me to the fact of that unrequited admiration for your honourable rival.
1913 J. J. Underwood Alaska 373 His [sc. Rezanof's] bright mind and courtly manners won..the heart of..Dona Concepcione. The story of their unrequited love was later woven into a lyrical romance by Bret Harte.
1916 B. Russell Justice in War-time 54 The Germans, we are given to understand, hate us with a bitter hatred, and long to believe that we feel towards them as they feel towards us; for unrequited hatred is as bitter as unrequited love.
1931 Times of India 28 Apr. 8/4 The ruthless murder of a child wife had been committed as a result of unrequited lust and unsatisfied desire.
1993 Times of India 21 Feb. 15/5 The song..comes at a point when the couple's love is about to go unrequited.
2009 J. Holmes Darwin's Bards vii. 200 The Renaissance sonneteers wrote about unrequited desire from the male lover's perspective.
Derivatives
ˌunreˈquitedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > [adverb] > without requital
unrequitedly1826
1826 New Times 7 Dec. Their unfortunate clients are perhaps writhing unrequitedly under the public exposure of an open trial.
1867 R. Broughton Not Wisely but too Well I. 108 Falling in love violently, and as it now appeared unrequitedly, with a man her superior in station.
1996 Daily Tel. 19 Sept. 22/1 I knew quite a few people who took their finals while unrequitedly in love.
ˌunreˈquitedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > gratitude > ingratitude > [noun] > absence of reward > state of
unrequitedness1648
1648 R. Boyle Seraphic Love (1659) xiv. 94 So far from enabling us by them, to Requite his Love,..it encreases the Unrequitednesse of it.
1837 Edinb. Rev. July 141 The lover is thoroughly convinced of the unrequitedness of his affection.
2002 K. Sieg Ethnic Drag ii. 108 The Winnetou adaptations in the 1950s emphasize the unrequitedness of Nscho-tschi's love for the German.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1556