▪ I. unˈgirt, ppl. a.
[un-1 8 b or f. ungird v. Cf. OFris. un-, ongert, MDu. ongegort (Du. -gord), MHG. (and G.) ungegürtet.]
1. Not girded or wearing a girdle; having the girdle or belt undone, slackened, or removed.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10826 Vn-hosed & bareuot & vn⁓gurt al so. 13.. Coer de L. 4153 Out com the wardayn Orgayl, And an hundryd knyghtes.., Barefoot, ungyrt, withouten hood. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1943 Bar-fot þou most go, Al open-her, & eke oungerte. c 1400 Gamelyn 215 Barfoot and vngirt Gamelyn In came. 1550 Thomas Ital. Gram., Discinto, vngyrte. 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 109 The idle and sluggish person..goeth loose and vngirt. 1604 Littleton's Tenures C 2 b, When the Tenaunt shall make Homage to his Lord, he shall be vngirt, and his head vncouered. a 1658 Cleveland Old Gill vi, She has always the Squirt, She is loose and ungirt. 1700 J. Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 835 Prince Lewis coming Barefoot and Ungirt from his own Pavillion. a 1822 Shelley Fragm. Elegy Death Adonis 18 Aphrodite..is wandering through the woods, 'Wildered, ungirt, unsandalled. 1850 Rossetti Blessed Damozel ii, Her robe, ungirt from clasp to hem. |
† b. In proverbial use. Obs.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. v. 18 Fie on the man, that did it first inuent, To shame vs all with this, ‘Vngirt vnblest’. 1635 Quarles Embl. iii. xiii, Am I a fitting Guest..With hands and face unwash'd, ungirt, unblest? 1690 C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 451 Here, if ever, doth that proverb Ungirt, Unblest, hold true. |
2. fig. a. Deprived or destitute of something.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3653 Dignite had ben vnlaced And vngirt of honour, nad vertu be. |
b. Not drawn together; left loose or incompact; not braced up for action.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Ep. Ded., What in most English wryters vseth to be loose, and as it were vngyrt, in this Authour is..strongly trussed vp together. 1644 Milton Divorce (ed. 2) Pref. A 4 b, Let him bethink him withall how he will soder up the shifting flaws of his ungirt permissions. 1670 Devout Commun. (1688) 27 If I go with a loose, ungirt spirit, I cannot instantly entertain my Lord. 1878 Emerson Sov. Ethics Wks. (Bohn) III. 381 Our later generation appears ungirt, frivolous, compared with the religions of the..Calvinistic age. |
▪ II. † unˈgirt, v. Obs.
[un-2 4 b.]
= ungird v.
| 1598 Florio, Discingere,..to vnguirt. 1612 R. Daborne Christian turn'd Turke 1275 The Muffty..girds his sword: then sweares him on the Mahomet's head, vngirts his sword [etc.]. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry iv. i. 5 He ungirteth himself of his Sword, and..to God offereth it there. |