untie

English

Etymology

un- +‎ tie

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈtaɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

untie (third-person singular simple present unties, present participle untying, simple past and past participle untied)

1. (transitive) To loosen, as something interlaced or knotted; to disengage the parts of.

   to untie a knot

   • (Can we date this quote?), Waller:

     Sacharissa's captive fain / Would untie his iron chain.

2. (transitive) To free from fastening or from restraint; to let loose; to unbind.
   • c. 1605, Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 4, scene 1:

     Though you untie the winds, and let them fight / Against the churches.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Jeremy Taylor:

     All the evils of an untied tongue we put upon the accounts of drunkenness.

3. To resolve; to unfold; to clear.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Denham:

     They quicken sloth, perplexities untie.

4. (intransitive) To become untied or loosed.

Antonyms

• tie

Translations

to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted

• Aromanian: dizleg
• Catalan: deslligar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 解開 (zh), 解开 (zh) (jiěkāi)

• Czech: rozvázat
• Dutch: losknopen (nl), losmaken (nl)
• Finnish: avata (fi)
• French: détacher (fr), délier (fr)
• Friulian: disleâ
• Georgian: აქციის (akciis)
• German: losbinden
• Greek: λύνω (el) (lýno), ξεδένω (el) (xedéno)

  Ancient: λύω (lúō)

• Irish: scaoil

• Italian: disfare (it), sciogliere (it), slegare (it)
• Japanese: 解く (ja) (ほどく, hodoku)
• Ladin: deslier
• Maori: wete, wetewete, tākiri, maheno
• Occitan: desligar (oc)
• Polish: rozwiązać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: desamarrar, desatar (pt)
• Quechua: paskay
• Romanian: desface (ro), dezlega (ro)
• Russian: развя́зывать (ru) impf (razvjázyvatʹ), развяза́ть (ru) pf (razvjazátʹ)
• Spanish: desatar (es), desamarrar (es), desligar (es)
• Turkish: çözmek (tr)
• Venetian: desligar

to free from fastening or from restraint

• Czech: odvázat
• Dutch: losmaken (nl)
• Finnish: irrottaa (fi)
• French: détacher (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: losmachen
• Greek: λύνω (el) (lýno), ξεδένω (el) (xedéno), ελευθερώνω (el) (eleftheróno)

  Ancient: λύω (lúō)

• Irish: scaoil
• Italian: disfare (it)
• Maori: whakamatora
• Portuguese: desamarrar, desatar (pt)
• Russian: отвя́зывать (ru) impf (otvjázyvatʹ), отвяза́ть (ru) pf (otvjazátʹ)
• Spanish: soltar (es)
• Turkish: çözmek (tr)

to resolve

• Dutch: ontrafelen (nl), oplossen (nl), ontwarren (nl)
• Finnish: ratkaista (fi)
• German: aufklären (de), auflösen (de), beschließen (de), beseitigen (de), lösen (de)
• Greek: λύνω (el) (lýno)

• Portuguese: resolver (pt)
• Russian: реша́ть (ru) impf (rešátʹ), реши́ть (ru) pf (rešítʹ)
• Spanish: desatar (es)
• Turkish: çözmek (tr)

to become untied or loosed

• Dutch: loskomen (nl)
• Finnish: avautua (fi)
• French: détacher (fr)
• German: sich lösen
• Greek: λύνομαι (el) (lýnomai)

• Italian: sciogliersi (it)
• Portuguese: soltar (pt)
• Russian: развя́зываться (ru) impf (razvjázyvatʹsja), развяза́ться (ru) pf (razvjazátʹsja)
• Spanish: desatarse (es)
• Turkish: çözülmek (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontrafelen

Anagrams

• unite