Unused

ppl. a. [UN-¹ 8.]

  1.  Unaccustomed (esp. to something, or with inf.).

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4367. Vor þer ȝe abbeþ nou vir ȝer of batayle vn-vsed be.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., IV. iii. 431. Suche persoones as ben vnkunnyng and vnvsid in vertues.

1538.  Elyot, Inceduus, vnvsed to be cutte.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, III. xxvi. So that, unused to a way of courtesie,… he hastily went away.

1604.  Shaks., Oth., V. ii. 349. One, whose subdu’d Eyes, Albeit vn-vsed to the melting moode, Drops teares.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, X. 815. Æneas couch’d his Spear, Unus’d to Threats, and more unus’d to Fear.

1741–2.  Gray, Agrippina, 17. A thousand haughty hearts, unus’d to shake When a boy frowns.

1796.  Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, V. 436. [She was] unused to transact any sort of business for herself.

1827.  Faraday, Chem. Manip., ix. 235. The student who is unused to the examination of papers.

1868.  Morris, Earthly Par., I. I. 411. Her gaoler’s torches filled with light The dreary place, blinding her unused eyes. Ibid. (1870), III. IV. 362. He … felt the golden circle of the crown … upon his unused head.

  transf.  1617.  Campion, Third Bk. of Ayres, xxviii. 8. Hils [would prove] too high for my vnused pace.

  2.  Not made use of; unemployed.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. xxix. (Bodl. MS.). Yren … rosteþ if it is to longe vnne vsed.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Fables, Fox, Wolf & H., ii. The oxin wes vnwsit, ȝoung and licht.

1546.  Sc. Acts, Mary (1814), II. 472. Þe said remissioune blank & obligatioune … one vsit.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 30. A bounch of keyes…, The which vnused rust did ouergrow.

1604.  Shaks., Ham., IV. iv. 39 (Q. 2). Sure, he … gaue vs not That capabilitie … To fust in vs vnvsd.

1819.  Shelley, Cenci, V. iii. 125. Some dull old thing, Some outworn and unused monotony.

1860.  Forster, Gr. Remonstr., 37. A maxim not unused by even Norman kings.

1887.  Spectator, 22 Oct., 1415. One of the churches … is unused, being considered dangerous.

  3.  Not in use; unusual; unwonted. Now arch.

1513.  Douglas, Æneid, VI. i. 33. By a quent vnvsit [L. insuetum] way to knaw, Towart the frosty poil artik he flaw.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 390. Inuentyng flatteryng wordes and vnused termes.

1570.  T. Norton, trans. Nowel’s Catech., 32 b. Neither is it vnused among men,… to be suretie … for an other.

1637.  G. Daniel, Genius of Isle, 417. My frozen witts,… Enlivened by a Splendor far more great, Have vnus’d Raptures.

1671.  R. MacWard, True Non-conf., 127. Yet I wish you had … forborn the hard and unused expression of an Inward Crown.

1835.  Browning, Paracelsus, I. 767. In unused conjuncture, When sickness breaks the body.

1867.  Morris, Jason, VI. 497. Strange dainty things they ate, Of unused savour.

  Hence Unusedness.

1593.  Sidney’s Arcadia (1598), V. 466. Comparing the vnusednesse of this act with the vnripenesse of their age.

1865.  Mrs. Whitney, Gayworthys, i. (1879), 10. That air of unusedness which a black silk dress … may keep.