[repr. OE. unʓecyndelic, or in later use f. UN-1 7 + KINDLY a.]
† 1. a. Morally unnatural; unnaturally wicked or vile. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 116. Vor hondlunge, oðer eni velunge bitweone mon & ancre is … unkundelich þincg.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 27966. Vnkindli sin and sodomite, Austin cals al suilk delite.
1418. 26 Pol. Poems, xiv. 84. Vnkyndely synne and shameles haunted.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 102. The deuell slow all, for as moche as they vsed unkindely werke.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 9. Their owne mother … gan abhorre her broods vnkindly crime.
1614. Sylvester, Little Bartas, 905. Besides th’ unkindly slaughter Of his owne Selfe, by his owne Sons soon after.
† b. Unnatural in respect of relations or dealings with others. Obs.
1456–70. in Acta Parlt. Scotl. (1875), XII. 27/1. Thynkand it onkyndle tyll thole ane nominatioun of lardschipe of sic ane man.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. 642. After this vnkyndly warre had duryd by the space of vi. monethes.
1591. Troub. Raigne K. John (1611), 68. Vnkindly rage, more rough than northern wind, To clip the beautie of so sweete a flower!
1605. Sylvester, Du Bartas, Sonn. Late Peace, iv. War’s unkindly quarrels.
1647. N. Ward, Simple Cobler, 15. How unseasonable and unkindely it is, to interturbe the State and Church with these Amalekitish onsets.
† 2. Unnatural in respect of physical qualities or actions. Obs.
a. 1300. in E. E. P. (1862), 10/104. Þe þing þat bodi no flesse naþ non … vnkundlich þing ded sal don.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 26253 (Fairf.). Þe man þat mengis wiþ vnkindeli best his flesshe luste to fulfille.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 264. Thilke unkendeli peines Thurgh whiche Envie is fyred ay.
a. 1500. Flower & Leaf, 413. Salades, which they made hem ete, For to refresh their greet unkindly hete.
1555. Watreman, Fardle Facions, 324. Lest therby the vnkindlie couplings against kinde, passe also at lengthe vnto men.
1611. Guillim, Heraldry, III. xxv. 179. The shape of the Leopard bewraieth his vnkindly birth.
1639. T. de Grey, Expert Farrier, II. xxi. (1656), 628. Unkindly and unnatural heats given him by most violent and intemperate riding.
b. Of weather, soil, etc.: Unnaturally bleak or cold; unfavorable to growth or comfort; inclement.
14[?]. in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 154. Mych of oure welth hase wastud awey With grete darthe … And unkyndle wedurs.
1535. W. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (Rolls), III. 43. In … Hungar and cald, and wnkyndlie distres.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Jan., 26. My life bloud friesing with vnkindly cold.
1652. Gaule, Magastrom., 332. We had not a more unkindly summer, for many yeeres, in respect of extraordinary cold.
a. 1684. Leighton, Wks. (1835), I. 109. A tender plant in a strange unkindly soil.
1763. Mills, Pract. Husb., I. 188. The land continued unkindly and sour.
1775. Phil. Trans., LXVI. 282. The summers are often so unkindly, that their wheat is blighted while in ear.
1850. Robertson, Serm., Ser. III. iii. (1857), 36*. The unkindly climate of their birth.
a. 1864. Hawthorne, Amer. Note-bks. (1868), I. 282. Besides the bleak, unkindly air.
c. Not answering to its (or their) proper kind; not properly conditioned, developed, or thriving. Now dial. or arch.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 8523. Ho was vnkyndly to knaw of hir kyd frendis, So disfigurt of face & febill of hew.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xvii. 313. In vs only there is such an vnkindly and Bastardly Nature, that [etc.].
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 225. Kine, Buls, and Oxen are not to be despised as unkindly, although they looke but illfavouredly.
1616. Breton, Invective agst. Treason, Wks. (Grosart), I. 4/1. [To] make theyr bread, of an vnkindly Branne; which seeming Wheate, is but a Hellish weede, sown by the Devill.
1790. Trans. Soc. Arts, VIII. 32. [These] Peas … ripen later, and become so unkindly that the pods … never fill.
c. 1813. Mrs. Sherwood, Stories Ch. Catech., xxxiv. 357. Lopping off … a dead leaf, or unkindly branch.
1887–8. in Cheshire and Somerset glossaries (applied to plants or animals).
† d. Prejudicial to health; not developing in a natural healthy manner. Obs.
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Hist. Jas. V., Wks. (1711), 114. He was troubled by an unkindly Medicine.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 1050. Grosser sleep Bred of unkindly fumes.
1797. Underwood, Disorders Childhood, II. 117. An oozing of blood from the part, after an unkindly separation of the cord.
1822–7. Good, Study Med. (1829), IV. 99. The exciting causes [of madness] … are … unkindly child-bed [etc.]. Ibid., V. 583. It [sc. opium] proved a cordial to him through the whole of this tedious affection, without a single unkindly concomitant.
† 3. Not of the same kind; strange. Obs.
1560. Rolland, Seven Sages, 23. Vnkyndlie Captanes ouirthrawis And commoun welth doun drawis.
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. v. 765. Th infamous Bird that layes His Bastard Egges within the nests of other, To have them hatcht by an unkindely Mother.
† 4. a. Lacking natural affection. b. Cruel, malicious. Obs.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 26. To see th’ vnkindly Impes … Deuoure their dam. Ibid. (1591), Tears Muses, 15. Her loued Twinnes,… whom her vnkindly foes The fatall Sisters, did for spight destroy.
5. Devoid of kindness; unkind.
1805–6. Cary, Dante, Inf., XXI. 97. I to my leader’s side adhered, mine eyes … bent on their unkindly visage.
1827. Scott, Surg. Dau., vii. He was conscious of unkindly, if not hostile, feelings towards his old companion.
1862. Lytton, Str. Story, 132. That gentle heart could not bear one unkindlier shade between itself and what it loved.
