▪ I. ˈunked, ˈunkid, a. Now dial.
Forms: α. 4–5 vnkid (4 -kidd, 5 -kidde), vnkyd (4 -kydd, 6 -kydde), vnkud, 8–9 unkid. β. 4 vnkede, 5– unked, 8–9 unket.
[ME. un-kidd, f. un-1 + pa. pple. of kithe v. Cf. unco, uncouth, unkard, unketh, and unquod adjs.]
1. Not made known or revealed; unknown, unfamiliar, strange.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6920 He-self has berid him and hidd In a priue sted vn-kydd. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 90 Oure treutht to þaim wes vnkid. a 1400 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 7247 Þre kinges were of engelond of vnkunde [MS. C. vnkede] sede. c 1465 Eng. Chron. (Camden, 1856) 2 Not onli for deuocion, but also forto se the newe and unkid solennite. 1540 R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1541) 47 The women were taken with an unked kynd of franzy. 1583 Abstract of Acts, Canons, etc. temp. Q. Eliz. 70 A phisition..must not minister after any vnked maner, but [etc.]. 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, Unket, Unkid, strange, unusual. 1894–6 in Northumb. and Warw. glossaries. |
2. Awkward or troublesome through being unfamiliar or unknown.
| 1634 C. Butler Eng. Gram. Pref., So powerful is the tyrant custom..that..this little change..will seem to some harsh and unked at first. 1810 S. Green Reformist I. 89, I, who never has handled a needle, will make but an unked kind of business of it. 1815 M. Pilkington Celebrity I. 131 It is but an unked kind of way for a stranger to find. |
b. Causing awkwardness or unpleasantness.
| 1860 Hughes T. Brown at Oxf. xviii, I hopes as you don't think I be any ways unked 'bout this here quire-singin'. |
3. Unfamiliarly lone or dreary; lonely, dismal, forbiddingly dull.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Unked,..Solitary, Lonely. 1727 Hearne Diary 11 Nov., W[hi]ch way (a strangely unked, solitary walk) I had never went..before. 1790 Cowper Let. to Mrs. Throckmorton 21 Mar., Weston is sadly unked without you. 1825 Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 148 Late at night a rawd along All droo a unket ood. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xiii, The place was unkid and lonesome, and the rolling clouds very desolate. |
b. Of persons: Feeling lonely, dull, or depressed.
| 1760 Miss Talbot Let. to Mrs. E. Carter 8 May, Mr. Okey gone to his apprenticeship, and I a little unkit for want of my scholar. 1795 H. Walpole Let. to Miss Berry 2 Sept., I am very unked without you. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., Old people suffering from the loss of friends will frequently say they feel very unkid. |
4. Disagreeable, unpleasant, unnatural, eerie.
| 1800 Gentl. Mag. Feb. 107 [In Oxon.] every thing that is unfortunate, or unlucky, or not as it could be wished, is unked. 1864 C. Rossetti Jessie Cameron v, By her hut..they would not pass at night, Lest they should hear an unked strain Or see an unked sight. 1884 Standard 6 Sept. 2/1 The..lapping of the waters evoke[s] a weird feeling that is somewhat, as the West Country people called it, unked. |
Hence ˈunkedness. rare.
| 1796 C. Smith Marchmont I. 232 The unketness of the place. 1838 Lady Lyttelton Lett. (1873) 235, I..had a wretched unkedness of a morning at the Inn. 1905 Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. |
▪ II. unked
see uncked a. Obs.