ppl. a. [OE. unwemmed (UN-1 8). Cf. OE. unʓewemmed, OHG. ungawemmit.]
1. Spotless, pure, immaculate. Now arch.
a. Of persons. Also const. in, of.
c. 950. Rituale Dunelm. (Surtees), 104. Ðerh ðone vnwoemmedo drihten … crist.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 237. Ure halende wes accenned of þam unwemmede mede sante Marie.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2877. Jesu Cristess hird Iss clene, & all unnwemmedd Inn hire trowwþe towarrd Godd.
c. 1225. Ancr. R., 10. To ancren … þe witeð ou from þe worlde, ouer alle oðre religiuse, clene & unwemmed.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter xviii. 14. Þan vnwemmed be I sal, And I sal be clensed clene Of gilte.
1382. Wyclif, Col. i. 22. For to haue ȝou hooly, and vnwemmid, and with oute reprof bifore hym.
c. 1400. Prymer, in Maskell, Mon. Rit. (1847), II. 40. Thou toke sum tyme the shap of oure bodi, in childynge of the unwemmed vyrgyn.
c. 1500. Lancelot, 2097. This flour wnwemmyt of hir wirginitee.
1513. Douglas, Æneid, X. Prol. 106. Thou tuke mankynd of ane onwemmyt mayd.
1570. Levins, Manip., 51. Vnwembed, immaculatus.
a. 1643. Cartwright, Ordinary, II. ii. Moth [an antiquary]. ’Tis hard to find a Damosel unwenned [sic], They being all Coltish and full of Ragery.
absol. a. 1300. E. E. Psalter xxxvi. 19. Lauerd daies of vnwemmid knawes he.
a. 1325. Prose Psalter, xxxvi. 19. Our Lord knew þe dedes of þe vnwemmed.
1382. Wyclif, Song Sol. v. 2. Opene thou to me,… my culuer, myn vnwemed.
b. Of the body, etc.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives, xxiii. B. 437. Þu wære symle fæmne oncnawen, and þinne lichaman hæbbende clæne and unwemmed.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2816. Allmahhtiȝ Drihhtin … Þatt nu liþ … I þin unnwemmedd wambe.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, iii. (Andrew), 442. [The] firste man, þat wes mad of vnwemmyt erd.
1382. Wyclif, Heb. xiii. 4. Honorable wedding in alle thingis, and bed vnwembid [v.r. vnwemyd bed].
c. Of qualities, etc.
c. 1000. Lambeth Psalter, c. 2. And ic anʓyte weʓe on unwemmed.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter xviii. 8. Lagh of lauerd vnwemmed esse, Tornand saules in to blisse.
c. 1366. Chaucer, A. B. C., 91. Signe of þin vnwemmed maidenhede.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxvi. (John Baptist), 466. Þe firste is of virginite, Þat ay vnuemmyt kepit he.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., V. i. 477. A clene and an vnwemmed religioun.
c. 1872. J. Addis, Eliz. Echoes (1879), 68. A love unwemmed, guiltless of attaint.
† 2. Not hurt, injured, or scarred. Obs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 14735. All swa summ Ysaac attbrasst Unnwundedd & unnwemmedd.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2106. Bot noþer him harmd, hefd ne fott. For als he was o lust vnlame Als was vnwemmed his licam.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XX. 376. He had gret ferly That sic a knycht … Micht in the face vnwemmyt be.
3. Not physically spotted or stained. Now dial.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19504. Godd him geit, þat euer es god, Vn-wemmed his hend in sacles blod.
1876. Whitby Gloss., 208/1. Unwemm’d, without wrinkle or stain; unblemished.
† 4. Unblemished; flawless. Obs. rare.
c. 1475. Partenay, 6569. And so haue I done after my simplesse, Preseruing, I trust, mater and sentence Vnwemmed, vnhurt.
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., II. xxx. Vnwemmit wit deliuerit of all dangeir.
Hence Unwemmedness, rare.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2388. Þatt ȝho mihhte A libbenn i clene maȝȝþhad, & inn unnwemmeddnesse. Ibid., 2875, 8220, 10098.
