untie

English

Etymology

From Middle English untien, unteyen, untyȝen, untiȝen, from Old English untīġan (“to untie”), equivalent to un- +‎ tie.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʌnˈtaɪ/
Rhymes: -aɪ
- Audio (Southern England): (file)

Verb

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

(transitive) To loosen, as something interlaced or knotted; to disengage the parts of.
to untie a knot
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 367:
  Haſt thou the pretty vvorme of Nylus [an asp] there, / That killes and paines not? / […] / Come thou mortal vvretch, / VVith thy ſharpe teeth this knot intrinſicate, / Of life at once vntye: Poore venomous Foole, / Be angry, and diſpatch.
- 1645, Edmund Waller, To Amoret:
  Sacharissa's captive fain / Would untie his iron chain.
(transitive) To free from fastening or from restraint; to let loose; to unbind.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
  Though you untie the winds, and let them fight / Against the churches.
- 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
  All the evils of an untied tongue we put upon the accounts of drunkenness.
To resolve; to unfold; to clear.
- 1668, John Denham, Of Prudence (poem)
  They quicken sloth, perplexities untie.
(intransitive) To become untied or loosed.
(programming, transitive) In the Perl programming language, to undo the process of tying, so that a variable uses default instead of custom functionality.
- 2002, Dave Roth, Win32 Perl Programming: The Standard Extensions, page 151:
  After you finish with the INI file, all you need to do is untie the hash. Then you really are finished!

Synonyms

unfasten

Antonyms

tie

Translations

to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted

Arabic: فَكَّ (ar) (fakka)
Armenian: արձակել (hy) (arjakel), քակել (hy) (kʻakel)
Aromanian: dizleg
Belarusian: развя́зваць impf (razvjázvacʹ), развяза́ць pf (razvjazácʹ)
Bulgarian: развъ́рзвам (bg) impf (razvǎ́rzvam), развъ́ржа pf (razvǎ́rža)
Catalan: deslligar (ca)
Central Sierra Miwok: šu·jum
Chinese:
Mandarin: 解開／解开 (zh) (jiěkāi)
Czech: rozvazovat impf, rozvázat pf
Dutch: losknopen (nl), losmaken (nl)
Estonian: lahti siduma
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)
Hebrew: לפרום m (lifrom)
Hungarian: kiköt (hu), kifűz (hu), kiold (hu), kibogoz (hu), kicsomóz (hu)
Irish: scaoil
Italian: disfare (it), sciogliere (it), slegare (it)
Japanese: 解く (ja) (ほどく, hodoku)
Korean: 풀다 (ko) (pulda)
Ladin: deslier
Latin: solvō (la)
Malayalam: അഴിക്കുക (ml) (aḻikkuka)
Maori: wete, wetewete, tākiri, maheno, whakamatora
Occitan: desligar (oc)
Polish: rozwiązywać (pl) impf, rozwiązać (pl) pf
Portuguese: desamarrar, desatar (pt)
Quechua: paskay
Romanian: desface (ro), dezlega (ro)
Russian: развя́зывать (ru) impf (razvjázyvatʹ), развяза́ть (ru) pf (razvjazátʹ)
Slovak: rozväzovať impf, rozviazať pf
Spanish: desatar (es), desamarrar (es), desligar (es), desañudar (es), desanudar (es)
Swedish: knyta upp
Turkish: çözmek (tr)
Ukrainian: розв'я́зувати impf (rozvʺjázuvaty), розв'яза́ти pf (rozvʺjazáty)
Venetan: desligar
Vietnamese: cởi (vi), tháo (vi)
Welsh: datod (cy), datglymu (cy)

to free from fastening or from restraint

Arabic: فَكَّ (ar) (fakka)
Armenian: արձակել (hy) (arjakel)
Belarusian: адвя́зваць impf (advjázvacʹ), адвяза́ць pf (advjazácʹ)
Bulgarian: отвъ́рзвам (bg) impf (otvǎ́rzvam), отвъ́ржа (bg) pf (otvǎ́rža)
Czech: odvazovat impf, odvázat pf
Dutch: losmaken (nl)
Finnish: irrottaa (fi)
French: détacher (fr)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: losmachen (de)
Greek: λύνω (el) (lýno), ξεδένω (el) (xedéno), ελευθερώνω (el) (eleftheróno)
Ancient: λύω (lúō)
Hebrew: התיר (he) m (hitir)
Irish: scaoil
Italian: disfare (it)
Malayalam: അഴിക്കുക (ml) (aḻikkuka)
Maori: whakamatora, maheno
Polish: odwiązywać impf, odwiązać pf
Portuguese: desamarrar, desatar (pt)
Russian: отвя́зывать (ru) impf (otvjázyvatʹ), отвяза́ть (ru) pf (otvjazátʹ)
Slovak: odväzovať impf, odviazať pf
Spanish: soltar (es)
Swedish: lösgöra (sv), knyta loss
Turkish: çözmek (tr)
Ukrainian: відв'я́зувати impf (vidvʺjázuvaty), відв'яза́ти pf (vidvʺjazáty)
Welsh: datod (cy)

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)
Hungarian: kikötődik, kioldódik (hu), kifűződik (hu)
Italian: sciogliersi (it)
Malayalam: അഴിയുക (ml) (aḻiyuka)
Maori: maheno
Portuguese: soltar (pt)
Russian: развя́зываться (ru) impf (razvjázyvatʹsja), развяза́ться (ru) pf (razvjazátʹsja)
Spanish: desatarse (es)
Turkish: çözülmek (tr)
Welsh: datod (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontrafelen (nl)

Anagrams

unite