Undo

v. [OE. an-, on-, undón (see UN-² 3 and DO v.), = OFris. un(d)dua (WFris. ont-, ûntdwaen), MDu. and Du. ontdoen, OS. an(t)dôn, -duan (MLG. entdôn), OHG. anttoan, in(t)duon, etc. (MHG. entuon).]

  The absence or scarcity of material illustrating senses 1 and 3 in the 17th and 18th centuries is remarkable; the evidence suggests that, in these senses, the word was revived or reintroduced into literary use by Scott.

  I.  1. trans. To unfasten and open: a. A door, gate, or window.

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., VI. i. 254. Þa wearð eft Ianes duru andon,… þeh þær nan ʓefeoht þurhtoʓen ne wurde.

c. 1000.  Ags. Psalter (Thorpe), xxii. 7. Undoð nu eowre ʓeatu,… and onhlidað þa ecan ʓeata.

11[?].  Grave, 20, in Anglia, V. 290. Nefst ðu nenne freond … Ðæt æfre wndon ðe wule ða dure.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 5. Þet faire ȝet me hat hit, & … nefre ouer xii monþe nis hit undon bute to dei.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 603. Arches windoȝe undon it is, ðe Rauen ut-fleȝ.

c. 1325.  Lai le Freine, 183. The porter of the abbay aros,… The chirche dore he vndede.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 541. The wyndow she vndoth, and that in haste.

1412–20.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, IV. 4691. We for fer dar nat issen oute, Nor be so bolde to vndone a gate.

1520.  in Collect. (O. H. S.), I. 100. Vndo your dore.

1581.  A. Hall, Iliad, VI. 114. The dores of gold she doth vndoe, vnfolded, rich and large.

1801.  Scott, Eve St. John, xvii. The door she’ll undo, to her knight so true. Ibid. (1821), Kenilw., xxxii. The Earl undid the lattice, and stepped out.

1841.  Dickens, Barn. Rudge, ix. Undo the shop window, that I may get in that way.

1880.  Mrs. Parr, Adam & Eve, II. 63. She undid the gate, and held it half open.

  absol.  a. 1300.  K. Horn, 1069 (Camb. MS.). He com to þe gateward…. Horn bad undo softe.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 243. This Geta cam thanne ate laste Unto the dore and seide, ‘Undo.’

c. 1425.  Seven Sages, 1410 (P.). At hys dore he wolde inne,… He schof ther-onne and bade undo.

  b.  A box, sack, bale, etc.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gen. xlii. 27. Þa undyde hira an his sacc.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 5004. Þai … did þair fardels be vndon.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, I. 2148. He seȝ a bok was fast ischet;… Ne myȝte hy no man ondo.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 4846. Þe clerk þanne deliuerli vndede þo letteres.

c. 1412.  Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 1112. Vn-to his cofre he dressith hym in hye;… He it vndoth, and opneth.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 85. Then made he men to vndo þe tombe.

1466.  Paston Lett., II. 293. I sende yow … iij. tracle pottes of Geane;… they weer never ondoo syns that they come from Geane.

1535.  Act 27 Hen. VIII., c. 14 § 4. Which packes … be not vndone nor opened at their arriual within the portes.

1573.  Baret, Alv., O 114. To vndooe, or open a letter sealed.

1853.  M. Arnold, Scholar Gipsy, xxv. [The] Tyrian trader … on the beach undid his corded bales.

  fig.  a. 1300.  Sarmun, xxxvi., in E. E. P. (1862), 5. Vn-do þin hert þat is iloke wiþ couetise.

a. 1310.  in Wright, Lyric P., xviii. 58. Swete Jhesu,… Undo myn herte ant liht ther-yn.

1596.  Drayton, Legends, iii. 106. What is that Man, by whom thou art controll’d, Or hath the Key of Reason to vndoe thee?

  † c.  To open by unlocking or uncovering. Obs.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 656. ʓif hwa hit hælt, S. Petre mid heofne keie undo him heofenrice.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 6611. Þaa holes, quen þai þam vndid, Þai fand bot wormes creuland emid. Ibid., 6725. If animan vndus a pitt, And siþen wil it noght ditt.

  † 2.  To open (the mouth or eyes). Obs.

a. 1000.  Kentish Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 62. Aperientur [labia mea], siont ondone.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 548. He undyde his muð, and hi lærde.

c. 1055.  Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 317. Þæt he undo his eaʓan.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 121. Imong alle þere pine … ne undude he nefre ene his muð.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3971. Balaam it spureð and smit ðor-on; And god vndede ðis asses muð.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7185. He gan as he awoke of slepe is eyen þo vndo.

c. 1420.  Lay Folks Mass Bk., 82. Lorde un-do my lyppis.

c. 1430.  Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 684. Yit a litle his eyen he vndede.

  3.  To unfasten by untying or by releasing from a fixed position; to unfix. Also in fig. context.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John i. 27. Ðæs ic ne am wyrðe þætte ic undoe [Rushw. ondoe] his ðuong scoes.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., I. 572. On ðære ylcan nihte Godes engel undyde þa locu ðæs cwearternes.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2114. Ne was non so wis man in al his lond, ðe kude vn-don ðis dremes bond.

13[?].  Cursor M., 17357 (Gött.). [Þai] vndid þair lock all wid þe kay.

1382.  Wyclif, Mark i. 7. Of whom I … am not worthi for to vndo, or vnbynde, the thwong of his schoon.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 365/1. Ondoon, or ondo lokys or speryngys, aperio.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 248. Oure lady aperet … yn þe prison, and vndyd his bondes.

1542.  Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 230 b. Writhen … with so diffuse a knotte, that noman could vndooe it.

c. 1586.  C’tess Pembroke, Ps. (1823), LXVIII. ii. The prisoners chaines are by his hands undone.

1605.  Shaks., Lear, V. iii. 309. Pray you vndo this Button.

1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, iv. 44. The Cheeks may … receive the Head … without un-doing the Cap and Winter.

1805.  Scott, Last Minstrel, V. xxii. Some friendly hand Undo the visor’s barred band!

1818.  Byron, Juan, I. cxxxvii. Do pray undo the bolt a little faster.

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par. (1870), I. I. 431. She … turned the box round,… undid The clasp, and fearfully raised up the lid.

  b.  To unfasten the clothing of (a person).

1633.  Rowley, Match at Midn., IV. Wid[ow]. Alas! you will undo me. Alex. No, no, I will undo myself, look ye.

1841.  Dickens, Barn. Rudge, ix. Having undone her mistress, as she phrased it (which means, assisted to undress her).

1899.  T. M. Ellis, Three Cat’s-Eye Rings, 90. ‘Now undo me. I shall get into bed.’ ‘Yes, my lady.’

  † 4.  To unbind; to release or free from a bond, bandage, covering, etc. Obs.

c. 930.  Laws Athelstan, i. 23. Beon þreo niht, ær mon þa hond undo.

c. 950.  Durham Rit., 42. From allvm vsiʓ … synnvm … vndo.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 581. Ilc wateres springe here strengðe undede.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 34/30. Nov, he seide, we schullen iseo … Ȝweþer he þe mai a-ȝein me vndo.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14970. A moder ass yee sal þar find, And yee hir sal vn-do Vte of hir band.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 1310. Oundo þis prysouns on & on;… þey schulleþ out of þis sory won.

c. 1400.  Melayne, 785. The kynge vndid his hede alle bare.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, VI. vi. 45. Sche,… with that word, the branch schew and vndid, That preualie ondir hir clok wes hid.

  † 5.  a. To remove, take away; to detach, cut off.

c. 1275.  Lay., 19205. Merlyn hadde al his craft ondo of þan kinge.

1340.  Ayenb., 106. Þe yefþe of wysdom, þet uestneþ … þe herte in god,… þet hi ne may by ondo ne to-deld.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, IV. xii. 117. I man Vndo this hair, to Pluto consecrait.

  † b.  To cut up (an animal). Obs.

13[?].  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1327. Quykly of þe quelled dere a querre þay maked,… & didden hem derely vndo.

c. 1400.  Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), xxxiii. Þenne he shulde charge whome hym lyste to vndo þe deere.

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, Hunting, e iii. When ye haue slayn the boore…, Ye shall vndo hym vnflayne when he shall be dight.

  † c.  To cut open; to open with a knife. Obs.

c. 1440.  Anc. Cookery, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 451. Take pykes, and undo hom on the bale.

c. 1440.  Pallad. on Husb., I. 601. Al esely me may vndo the skyn With prickyng of a nelde or of a pyn.

a. 1450.  Myrc, Par. Pr., 99. Teche the mydwyf that scho hye For to vndo hyre wyth a knyf, And for to saue the chyldes lyf.

1672.  Walker, Paræm., 34. Undone, as ye would undoe an Oyster.

1688.  J. Grubb, in Roxb. Ball. (1888), VI. 726. George undid the Dragon just as you’d undo an oyster.

  † 6.  intr. To go apart; to open; to become unfastened, come undone. Obs.

1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.). Se wolcne undide on fower healfe and faht þær to ʓeanes.

c. 1300.  Harrow. Hell, 138 (Harl. MS.). Helle gates y come nou to, ant y wole þat heo vndo.

c. 1500.  in Hazlitt, E. P. P., III. 109. Al the dore I will assaie, If it will undoe.

1548.  in S. Haynes, St. Papers Cecil (1740), 99. The Lady Elizabeth heryng the Pryvie-Lock undo,… ran out of hir Bed.

  II.  7. trans. To annul, cancel, rescind (something done, effected, or decided on); to reduce to the condition of not having been done, effected, decided, etc.

c. 970.  in Birch, Cartul. (1887), III. 417. Þet hyra nan næ undo þe ic to ðam haliʓum mynstrum binnan þære byrig ʓedon hæbbe.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 656. Leidon þa Godes curs … [on him] þe ani þing undyde þæt þær wæs ʓedon. Ibid. (1123), an. 1123. He sæde þone cyng þæt hit wæs to ʓeanes riht,… ac se cyng hit nolde undon.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3014. Pharaon wroð herte on hard, And vndede hem ðat forward.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 5692. He vndude alle þe luþer lawes þat me huld biuore, & gode lawes broȝte vorþ.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, I. 1669. For þet compleþ þet spoushod … Þat hyt ne may be ondon.

c. 1400.  Beryn, 3355. For I have made a bargeyn, þat may nat be vndo.

1495.  Act 11 Hen. VII., c. 56 § 2. Provided alweys that this present acte extend not … to undo eny your lettres patentes.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), B viij. Julius Cesar … adnulled and vndyd all that Sylla hadde made.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., V. i. 75. What’s done, cannot be vndone.

1651.  Hobbes, Leviath., II. xix. 96. The diligent appearance of a few of the contrary opinion undoes to day, all that was concluded yesterday.

1680.  Baxter, Answ. Stillingf., I. 72. And what Princes do, they have power to undo.

1709.  Addison, Tatler, No. 108, ¶ 5. To disappoint and undo what the most refined Spirits have been labouring to advance.

1768.  Tucker, Lt. Nat., II. I. xiv. 196. Annihilating time and space, undoing past events or producing contrary ones.

1820.  Shelley, Œd. Tyr., I. 384. With a little common sense,… Only undoing all that has been done.

1873.  Dixon, Two Queens, XXII. viii. No one could recall a case in which the peers had undone the finding of a grand jury.

  absol.  1440.  Bone Flor., 1511. He seyde, Thou haste wychyd me,… Undo or thou schalt abye.

1577–82.  Breton, Floorish upon Fancie, Wks. (Grosart), I. 6/1. To doo, and vndoo too, so that they may obtaine Their mistresse looue.

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. vi. 105. Warwicke as our Selfe, Shall do, and vndo as him pleaseth best.

1697.  Vanbrugh, Prov. Wife, I. i. Methinks, they do and undo, and make but bad work on’t.

1803.  Wordsw., Sonn. Liberty, xxii. 3. One man … Raised up to sway the world, to do, undo.

  b.  To reverse the doing or making of (some material thing or effect) so as to restore the original form or condition.

1426.  Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 11328. Tel me … Why makestow, & vndost ageyn Thy werk [sc. mats] so offte sythe a day?

1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. ii. 210. Whose winde did seeme To gloue the delicate cheekes which they did coole, And what they vndid did.

1632.  Sanderson, Serm., I. 309. He never knoweth the end of his work; what he doth now, anon he must undo.

1679.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., vii. 125. It is sometimes used when Carpenters have committed error in their work, and must undo what they did, to mend it.

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVI. 484/1. It will not stop till it has turned as often as the end m has been twisted, and now all the twist will be undone.

1853.  Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.), 572. He went up … to the workmen, and … made them … undo all they had yet finished.

1866.  Geo. Eliot, F. Holt, i. She liked to insist that work done without her orders should be undone from beginning to end.

  8.  To destroy; to bring to naught; to do away with; to take away, remove. Now rare.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xiv. 58. Ic undoe vel ic toslito [L. dissolvam] tempel.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Ne swincke þu nefre swa muchel, a hit bið undon.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3902. Quat stungen man so saȝ ðor-on, ðat werk him sone al was vn-don.

a. 1275.  in O. E. Misc., 101. Hwenne deþ heom lat to þe murehþe þat neuer ne byþ undon.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 562. Hym rwed þat he hem vp-rerde…, & efte þat he hem vndyd, hard hit hym þoȝt.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. v. 17. I came not to vndo the lawe, but to fulfille.

c. 1425.  Eng. Conq. Ireland, 94. Thay comen ayeyn hym … for to mak hym turne ayeyne; other, to vndo hym ryght yn the watyr.

c. 1440.  Pallad. on Husb., I. 284. Vuhusbondynge vndoth fertilite.

c. 1482.  J. Kay, in Gibbon, Crusades, etc. (1870), 135. To undoo and subuerte the holy cytee of Rome.

1573.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 73. Look daily well to them, least dogs vndoo them.

1638.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (ed. 2), 303. The Bannyan is … so innocent, as not to undoe the silliest vermin.

1669.  Pepys, Diary, 31 May. Having done now so long as to undo my eyes almost every time that I take a pen in my hand.

1703.  Rowe, Fair Penit., I. i. Nor tell him that which will undo his Quiet.

1788.  Trifler, No. 14. 186. This hypothesis however is undone by the manifest design and order displayed through the whole creation.

1871.  Jowett, Plato, I. 499. The love of Aristogeiton and the constancy of Harmodius had a strength which undid their power.

  b.  To destroy in respect of means or position; to ruin. † Also (refl.) with (out) of.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 193. Thurgh the conseil of you tuo I stonde in point to ben undo.

1477.  Paston Lett., III. 199. I beseche yow that I maye have an assyngnement of suche dettes…; ffor … I sholde ellys wylfully ondoo myselffe.

1483.  Caxton, G. de la Tour, C v b. For a lytel thynge ye haue vndo yow.

1531.  Star Chamb. Cases (Selden), II. 187. Extending vtterly to defame, inpouerisshe and vndoo your seid oratours.

1573.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 24. The rich it compelleth to paie for his pride; the poore it vndooeth on euerie side.

1612.  Two Noble K., III. vi. 137. Our Folly has undon us.

1687.  A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 32. It is never heard in Turkie, that a man hath undone himself by House-keeping.

1712.  Arbuthnot, John Bull, II. iii. A foolish and negligent husband, who … was undone by his wife’s elopement from him.

1798.  S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., II. 15. A single error undid him.

1852.  Miss Yonge, Cameos, I. i. 5. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when the spirit of her greatest king awoke.

1867.  Morris, Jason, I. 81. For surely mayst thou lean upon me, when … a king with wrong Would fain undo thee.

  (b)  1621.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Unnat. Father, Wks. (1630), 136/2. He was enticed to vndoe himselfe out of all his earthly possessions.

1628.  Gaule, Pract. The., 4. He hath quite vndone himselfe of Money, Wit [etc.].

  c.  To injure (a person) seriously. rare.

1530.  Palsgr., 767/2. I undo one by any … hurt done to his person by reason of any stroke.

17[?].  Christmas Ba’ing, xxi. in Skinner’s Misc. Poet. (1809), 130. An’t had na been for Davy Mair, The rascals had ondune him.

  d.  To ruin by seducing. Also absol. Now rare.

1612.  Shelton, Quix., I. iii. 16. Doing many wrongs, solliciting many widdowes, vndoing certaine maidens.

a. 1695.  Prior, Whither would my passion run,’ i. Losing Her I am undone, Yet would not gain Her to undo Her.

1792.  Wolcot (P. Pindar), More Money, II. ix. As Darkness oft turns Pimp to undo a belle.

1809.  Malkin, Gil Blas, II. vii. ¶ 14. In my eyes he was created to undo.

  9.  To explain, interpret, expound. Now rare.

  Sometimes with suggestion of sense 3.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4474. Said ioseph,… I sal vn-do þe wel þi sueuen. Ibid., 12206. Vndos me first quat es alpha.

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 9. Macrobes, That … vndothe vs the auysioun That whilom mette kyng Cipioun.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. III. 40. Dauid vn-doþ hit hym-self, as þe doumbe sheweþ.

c. 1450.  St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 680. Ga in my blissing þi mayster to, He sall þis dreeme þe vndo.

1581.  Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., II. (1586), 82. I praie you … vndo me the knot of this Gentrie, which I see to be verie intricate.

1618.  Fletcher, Women Pleas’d, IV. i. Here may be so much wit (though much I fear it) To undo this knotty question.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 252. Commend them to such as can undo a Text (as they tearm it) with as much ease as a bow-knot.

1833.  Tennyson, Two Voices, 232. In seeking to undo One riddle, and to find the true.