▪ I. † ute, v. Obs.
Forms: 1 utun, 1–2 uton, utan, 2–3 uten, ute, vte (3 oute).
[Later form of OE. witon, wuton, originally subj. (= ‘let us go’) of OE. ᵹew{iacu}tan i-wite v.2]
An interjectional form used with an infinitive verb, having the force of a subjunctive, with the sense ‘Let us ―’.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §7 Uton lætan þonne bion þa spræce. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 4 Ᵹyf þu wylt, uton wyrcean her þreo eardung-stowa. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 241 Ute we nu isi wice bioð ure ifo. a 1200 Moral Ode 333 Vte we us bi-werien wid þes wrecches worldes luue. c 1205 Lay. 20635 Uten we heom to liðe. c 1275 Passion of our Lord 173 in O.E. Misc. 42 Ariseþ vp..and vte we heonne go. |
▪ II. ute, n.2 Colloq. (chiefly Austral. and N.Z.)
(juːt)
abbrev. of utility 4 b.
| 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 68 Ute, short for Utility truck, a light van used by the Army. 1951 E. Lambert Twenty Thousand Thieves 178 He gets pissed one night, pinches a ute from the transport lines. 1961 J. Danvers The Living Come First i. 17 I'd like you to take the ute and drive in to Alice. The wire we ordered has arrived. 1971 N.Z. Listener 8 Nov. 15/5 Wind whipped at the ute and rocked it on the road's sharp corners. 1981 National Times (Austral.) 25–31 Jan. 23/4 We used to help load Teddy into the back of the ute. 1984 NZ Farmer 12 Apr. 39/1 Now Nissan has followed it with a tough new 4 × 4 ute, known at this stage just as the 720. |
▪ III. ute
var. oute adv. Obs.