unˈkept, ppl. a.
Also 4 north. unkepide, 5 (Sc. 6) unkepit; etc.
[un-1 8, 8 b.]
1. Not attended to; not tended or looked after; neglected.
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 28 If þou..latis þame [sc. the feet] spill for defaute of kepynge—unarayede, unkepide, and noghte tente to as þam aughte for to be,—thou pleses Hym noghte. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 57 Lond vnkept and insolent. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 514 Sho hir childe saw vnkepyd, And wante þat he was wonte to haue. 1469 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 336 That they goo to noon other labore and lewe the gye rope unkepit. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 9 He keepes me rustically at home, or (to speak more properly) staies me heere at home vnkept. 1611 Florio, Incustodito, vnkept, not looked vnto. |
b. Unguarded, undefended.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1085 The kyng had no knawlache..Of the folke so furse,..For-þi vnkeppit were þe costes all þe kythe ouer. 1611 Florio, Suadata, open, vnkept, free for all men. |
2. Not observed or obeyed; disregarded.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 38 Certis þei..maken hem..to leue holy writt vnstudied, vnknoud & vnkept. c 1440 Jacob's Well 154 He..is for-sworn, for truthe vnkept & othe brokyn is all on. 1513 Douglas æneid iv. x. 61 Allace! vnkeipit is the trew cunnand. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xiv. §5 Many things generally kept heretofore, are now..vnkept and abolished euerywhere. 1623 Sanderson Serm. (1632) 151 Lawes..are farre better vnmade, then vnkept. |
3. Not stored up.
| 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof 97 Whether the vintage, yet unkept, Had relish fiery-new. |