Unbind

v. Forms: (see UN-² and BIND v.). [OE. unbindan (f. UN-² 3 + BIND v.), onbindan, = Du. ontbinden, G. entbinden.]

  1.  trans. To free from a band, bond, or tie; to make loose or free by undoing a band, etc. Also absol.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxi. 2. Ʒe infindes asal ʓebunden & fola mið hia, unbindas & to-lædas me. Ibid., Luke xiii. 15. An eʓhuelc iuer on symbol-doeʓ ne unbindeð vel woxo his vel assald of bósih.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 5. Ure drihten sende his .ii. apostles … þet heo unbunden þat assa.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2223. Qunn men ðo seekes ðor un-bond, And in ðe coren ðo aȝtes fond.

1382.  Wyclif, Luke xix. 31. And if ony man schal axe, whi ȝe vnbynden [sc. the ass], thus ȝe schulen seye to him.

1426.  Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 3038. Pereyl off deth … ys a cause evydent That thow mayst wel … The swerd ydrawe,… And the keyes vnbynde also.

c. 1450.  Lovelich, Grail, xlix. 213. Thanne let this Sarrazin Iosephe vnbynde his hondis that bownden weren behinde.

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, ix. Whanne the nyght was come, the labourer vnbonde his oxen.

1596.  Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 4. For those other goods, Vnbinde my hands, Ile pull them off my selfe.

1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 17. Get the Sail into the Ship, and unbind all things clear of it.

1683.  J. Reid, Scots Gard’ner (1907), 71. Set the graff on the west-side…. Unbind when you find their bands harme them.

1707.  Mortimer, Husb. (1721), II. 262. When you unbind them you may discern which are good and have taken, and which not.

1791.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Rom. Forest, ix. The ruffians unbound me from my horse.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., xxxix. He unbound his horse from the tree.

  fig.  c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 352. Þæs fæder tungan his nama unband.

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 2226. To vilayne speche in no degre Late never thi lippe vnbounden be.

1859.  Tennyson, Guinevere, 164. O maiden,… Sing, and unbind my heart that I may weep.

  b.  transf. To loosen, open up or out, set free, detach, etc.

1577.  Grange, Golden Aphrod., etc., S j b. So doth the morne (me thinkes) vnclose and eke vnbinde, Each thing whiche in the night, are closed in their kynde.

1633.  Fletcher, Purple Isl., I. xxxvi. Vain men, too fondly wise, who plough the seas,… The earths vast limits dayly more unbinde!

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 64. While Earth unbinds Her frozen Bosom to the Western Winds.

1735.  A. Hill, Zara, v. 60. His absence shall unbind his sister’s tongue.

1743.  Francis, trans. Hor., Odes, I. xxii. 18. Place me where never Summer Breeze Unbinds the Globe, or warms the Trees.

1781.  Cowper, Tiroc., 439. The most disint’rested and virtuous minds, In early years connected, time unbinds.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam., VII. xl. Like wind Which … can wake the still cloud, and unbind The strength of tempest.

  c.  To take the bandage off (a limb or wound).

1639.  T. de Gray, Expert Farrier, 30. Binde upon it a linnen cloth,… then … unbinde the foot.

1699.  Dampier, Voy., II. II. 91. The next Morning the Cloath being rubb’d off, I unbound it, and found the Worm broken off, and the Hole quite healed up.

1821.  Byron, Sardanap., III. i. I will unbind your wound and tend it.

  2.  fig. a. In renderings of Matt. xvi. 19, etc. Cf. LOOSE v. 1 c.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 19. Suæ huæt ðu unbindes ofer eorðu bið unbunden in heofnum.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 542. Swa hwæt swa hi unbindað ofer eorðan, þæt bið unbunden on heofonum.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 65. Al þat prest bindeð soðliche buð ibunden & al þat he unbindeð beð unbunden.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xviii. 18. What euere thingis ȝee shulen vnbynde vpon erthe, tho shulen be vnbounden and in heuenes.

c. 1400.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr. (1908), 123. What that ȝe vnbynde in erthe schal be vnbounden in heuene.

  absol.  1820.  Wordsw., Processions, 67. That licentious craving in the mind To act the God among external things, To bind, on apt suggestion, or unbind. Ibid. (1822), Eccl. Sonn., I. xxxix. Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind!

  † b.  To free from sin or its consequences; to absolve. Obs.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Luke, Contents lxxvi. Ðone aldormono unband [L. absoluit] seðe cuom hal ʓedoe þætte losade.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 234. Forði sceolon ða lareowas ða unbindan fram heora synnum þa ðe Crist ʓeliffæst þurh onbryrdnysse.

a. 1200.  Vices & Virtues, 53. Hwa se … is mid heued-senne ibunden, þe naure ne mai ben unbunden bute ðurh priestes muðe oðer ðurh biscopes.

c. 1275.  Passion Our Lord, 630, in O. E. Misc., 55. Þeo þat ye aleseþ here of heore sunnes bende, Hi schulle beon vnbunden euer buten ende.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1014. Certys we ouȝt þan with ful mynde To preye god vs of synne vnbynde.

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 6416. I am unbounde;… For he that myght hath in his honde, Of alle my synnes me unbonde.

a. 1450.  Knt. de la Tour (1906), 53. The deuell holdithe hem bounde in his seruice till thei be vnbounde by confession.

  absol.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 28742. Sin crist is buxum to vnbind, Qui sal man preist ouer hard find.

1340.  Ayenb., 172. He sscl zeche zuych and confessour, þet conne bynde and onbynde.

1396–7.  in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1907), XXII. 301. Þei seyn þat … þei mown cursyn and blissin, byndin and unbyndin at here owne wil.

c. 1440.  Jacob’s Well, 63. Here it semyth þat acursyng byndyth, & absolucyoun vnbyndyth.

  † c.  To set free, deliver, cure (from sickness or trouble). Obs.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Luke xiii. 16. Ðios … dohter abrahames … ne were … reht to unbindanne vel to undoanne of bend ðissum dæʓe symbles?

c. 1000.  Saxon Leechd., I. 98. Ʒyf hwa on þære untrumnysse sy þæt he sy cis, þonne meaht ðu hine unbindan.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1339, Dido. O cloth, whil Jubiter hyt leste, Take now my soule, vnbynd me of thys vnreste.

c. 1430.  Hymns Virgin (1867), 97. How myȝt god me of care vnbinde Siþen god loueþ trouþe so verrili?

c. 1440.  Jacob’s Well, 63. Ȝysterday, whan þe absolucyoun was red ouyr my graue, I was vnboundyn of my peyne.

  † d.  To make free, to release, from some legal restraint or obligation. Also absol. Obs.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3370. In oþer halue he founde loye in is herte, uor þe contasse of spoushod was vnbunde. Ibid., 649. Þo was he al clene louerd, to binde & unbinde.

1340.  Ayenb., 97. Laȝe is yzed þeruore þet hy hare-zelue ne byn ake þe oþre byndeþ and þis onbynt.

1382.  Wyclif, Rom. vii. Now forsothe we ben vnbounden fro the lawe of deeth.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Merch. Prol., 14. Were I vnbounden al so moot I thee I wolde neuere eft comen in the snare [of marriage].

a. 1470.  H. Parker, Dives & Pauper (W. de W., 1496), IV. vi. 166/2. By his relygyon he is unbounden from this commaundement.

1491.  Caxton, Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495), V. xiv. 344/2. I praye the that it please the to doo to me that grace … to unbynde me of the sentence of excomynycacyon in which I am bounden.

1581.  Marbeck, Bk. of Notes, 978. New things, that is, the sweete tidings of y^e Gospell to vnbinde us.

  † e.  absol. To give up an enterprise. Obs. rare.

a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 1744 (Ashm. MS.). Forthi is bettir vnbynd & of þe brathe leue. Ibid., 1974. For-þi ware bettir vnbynde or þou bale suffire.

  3.  a. To set (a person) free from bonds; to restore to personal liberty in this way. Also in fig. context.

c. 950.  Rit. Eccl. Dunelm. (Surtees), 7. From synna bendum unbundeno … vsig … ʓihald.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 466. Æfter his behate ic ðe unbinde, þæt þu fare to westene.

a. 1023.  Wulfstan, Hom. (1883), 83. Æfter þusend ʓearum bið Satanas unbunden.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 3682. Forr þatt he wollde unnbindenn uss Off hellepiness bandess.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 601. [They] Vnkeueleden him, and swiþe unbounden.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 1227. Þan þei him vnbond bliue & brouȝt him his stede.

1382.  Wyclif, Acts xxii. 30. Forsoth in the day suynge he … vnbound him.

a. 1425.  Cursor M., 14912 (Trin.). Þat wiþ þe fend dwellynge ware He wolde hem vnbynde in dede.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 180/1. Thenne came an aungel that unbonde them.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, I. 168. I requyre the vnbynd me & brynge me out of this dolouros payne.

1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., III. i. 24. Vnbinde my sonnes, reuerse the doome of death.

1635.  Life Long Meg of Westm. (1871), 27. Help to unbind me, for I am undone, and almost killed.

1799.  Hull Advertiser, 3 Aug., 4/1. A … girl … tied up by both arms to a tree…. I implored that she might be immediately unbound.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, III. xiii. 2. They bore me to a cavern in the hill Beneath that column, and unbound me there.

1839.  Whittier, World’s Convention, 228. Methinks I see my country rise:… Her captives from their chains unbound. Ibid. (1851), Pris. Naples, 13. Whom man hath bound let Thy right hand unbind.

  fig.  1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 369. Sche which mai the hertes bynde In loves cause and ek unbinde.

1400–10.  Clanvowe, Cuckow & Night., ii. The god of love … can binden and unbinden eke What he wol have bounden or unbounde.

  † b.  To deliver (a woman). Obs.^–1

c. 1325.  Lai le Freine, 85. Sone therafter bifel a cas, That hirself with child was. When God wild sche was unbounde, And deliuerd.

  † c.  To clear of phlegm. Obs.^–0

1552.  Huloet, Vnbynde the breaste, expectoro.

  4.  To unfasten, untie, undo (a bond, cord, etc.).

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Luke iii. 16. Ðæs ne am ic wyrðe to unbindanne ðuongas sceoea his.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 10412. Þa shollde an oþerr cumenn forþ … & shollde unnbindenn þin shoþwang.

c. 1205.  Lay., 5926. Heo unbunde þa locun, drowen ut þa baiȝes.

1382.  Wyclif, Acts xvi. 26. And a-noon alle the doris ben openyd, and the bondis of alle ben vnbounden.

1426.  Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 22028. For the osyers nygh echon Were broke ffyrste…, Wherffore the hoopys were vnbounde.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., VI. xi. 8. But she resolu’d no remedy to fynde,… Till Fortune would her captiue bonds vnbynde.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, VII. 563. Unbind your fillets, loose your flowing hair.

1757.  W. Wilkie, Epigon., VI. 170. They … the helmet loos’d, the buckled mail unbound.

1791.  Cowper, Odyss., V. 419. Unbind the zone, Which thou shalt cast far distant from the shore Into the deep.

1812.  Byron, Ch. Har., III. civ. ’Twas the ground Where early Love his Psyche’s zone unbound.

1820.  Shelley, Vis. Sea, 56. The sharks and the dogfish their grave-clothes unbound.

  b.  In fig. context.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Mark vii. 35. Sona untyndo woeron earo his & un-bunden wæs ʓebend tungæs his.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 188, in O. E. Hom., I. 171. Vre bendes he vnbond & bohte us mid his blode.

1388.  Wyclif, Isaiah lviii. 6. Vnbynde thou the byndingis togidere of vnpitee.

a. 1500.  Ratis Raving, I. 1067. Gyf thai twa frendis can nocht find That scho may syk a band [sc. as that of marriage] wnbynd, I pray thee, reul the as thai red.

1559.  Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence, xi. Loves strongest bandes vnkindnes doth vnbinde.

1728.  Pope, Dunc., I. 24. Whether thou … magnify Mankind, Or thy griev’d Country’s copper chains unbind.

1744.  Berkeley, Siris, § 302. Theology and philosophy gently unbind the ligaments that chain the soul down to the earth.

1810.  Scott, Lady of L., V. xxviii. Those cords of love I should unbind, Which knit my country and my kind.

1843.  Whittier, Knight of St. John, 70. Then let the Paynim work his will, And death unbind my chain.

  c.  fig. To dissolve, undo, destroy.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 15590. Ure Laferrd … seȝȝde: Unnbindeþþ all þiss temmple, & icc Itt i þre daȝhess reȝȝse.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 675. Al þe world ne koude here loue vnbynde, Ne Troylus out of here herte caste. Ibid. (c. 1386), Pars. T., ¶ 511. Thanne cometh discord that vnbyndeth alle manere of freendshipe.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. I. (1869), 200. Þis byndinge, quod she, is cleped silence; Benedicite, þis is þilke þat oonliche vnbynt it.

1490.  Caxton, How to Die (1491), 19. Thou vnbondest the synne of all the worlde.

1529.  More, Suppl. Soulys, 28 b. By thys place ye se … that cryste at hys resurreccyon dyd lose and vnbynd paynys in hell.

1643.  Baker, Chron., Hen. VIII., 19. Both Kings had given authority … to the Cardinall to affirme and confirme, to bind or unbind, whatsoever should be in difference between them.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, IV. 704. Her charms unbind The chains of love, or fix them on the mind. Ibid., XII. 304. No force, no fortune, shall my vows unbind, Or shake the steadfast tenor of my mind.

  † 5.  a. absol. To aid the natural flux of the bowels. b. trans. To detach, clear away. Obs.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. lxix. (Bodl. MS.), fol. 73 b/2. With laxatyue medicens we laxeþ & vnbindeþ as with scamony.

1541.  Bk. Properties Herbs, E ij. Thys herbe … wyll vnbinde wormes in a mannes stomake.

  6.  intr. † a. To dissolve. Obs.^–1

c. 1450.  M. E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 220. Tak gomme of chyrytrees, or of plumtrees,… & put hyt in old wyn forto onbynde.

  b.  To become loosened.

1827.  Keble, Chr. Year, St. Peter xvi. Touch’d he upstarts—his chains unbind.

  Hence Unbinder, one who unbinds.

1837.  Lytton, Athens, II. 17. Bacchus,… the God of the Vineyard and the ‘Unbinder of galling cares.’