unˈwist, ppl. a. Obs. or arch.
[un-1 8 b.]
† 1. Unknown to one; without it being known.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1294 Hire entent..Was for to loue hym vnwist, if she myghte. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxxv. 22 Ruben ȝede, and slepte with Bala, the secundarye wijf of his fader, that to hym was not vnwist. 1420–22 Lydg. Thebes i. 494 And vttrely remembre, ȝif the lyst, Thy byrth and blood ar bothe two vnwist. c 1500 Lancelot 219 How he fra that stede In sacret wyss wnwyst away was tak. a 1547 Surrey æneis iv. 397 Unfaithfull wight! to cover such a fault Coldest thou hope unwist to leve my land? 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 26 Of hurt vnwist most daunger doth redound. Ibid. ix. 21 Then of them all she plainly was espyde To be a woman wight, vnwist to bee, The fairest woman wight, that euer eye did see. |
† b. Const. by, of; to, unto (or with dat.). Obs.
In (a) freq. in the 16th c. in the archaic phrase ‘unwist of any wight’.
| (a) c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1653 Hypsipyle, But on-wist of hire fadyr is she gon To Tessaly. c 1500 Lancelot 1139 Prevaly, unwist of any wicht. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 153 Unwist of any wight, The murther was unseene. 1590 Spenser F.Q. v. i. 9 It was kept in store In Ioues eternall house, vnwist of wight. 1848 Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 200 There is a secret sign whereby the soul Feels certainty of safety.., public to the universe,..And yet unwist of by a single world. |
| (b) c 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 3585 Þat sche with hym schal in-to Grece wende.., Vnwist hir fader & euery other wyȝt. 1420–2 ― Thebes iii. 4081 To hym the tyme vn⁓knowen and vnwist. 1476 Paston Lett. III. 153, I did it nott onwyst to hyr cowncell. c 1500 Lancelot 658 For to your folk this mater is wnwist. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 27 The shield and armes..Which Triamond had worne,..to his friend vnwist. |
† 2. Lacking knowledge (of something); unknowing; not knowing how. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1400 Now quod Pandare er owres twyes twelue, He shal be ese vnwyst of it hym selue. a 1547 Surrey æneis iv. 91 The shepheard smiteth at [the hind] unwares, And leaves unwist in her the thirling head. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. i. 22 When he wak't.., He found him selfe, vnwist, so ill bestad, That lim he could not wag. |
3. arch. Not known or recognized; strange.
| 1757 W. Thompson Poems, Nativity xvi, Three Seers un⁓wist the Captain-glory led, Of awful Semblance. 1836 Mrs. Browning Poet's Vow ii. xxi, Still between the sound and me, White creatures like a mist Did interfloat confusedly,—Mysterious shapes unwist! |