Dictionary

untie en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ʌnˈtaɪ/

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (transitive) To loosen, as something interlaced or knotted; to disengage the parts of.
   • to untie a knot
   • Sacharissa's captive fain / Would untie his iron chain. 1645, Edmund Waller, To Amoret:
   • 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. 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:
2. (transitive) To free from fastening or from restraint; to let loose; to unbind.
   • Though you untie the winds, and let them fight / Against the churches. 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]:
   • All the evils of an untied tongue we put upon the accounts of drunkenness. 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
3. To resolve; to unfold; to clear.
   • They quicken sloth, perplexities untie. 1668, John Denham, Of Prudence (poem)
4. (intransitive) To become untied or loosed.
5. (transitive) In the Perl programming language, to undo the process of tying, so that a variable uses default instead of custom functionality.
   • After you finish with the INI file, all you need to do is untie the hash. Then you really are finished! 2002, Dave Roth, Win32 Perl Programming: The Standard Extensions, page 151:

Forms

Antonyms

tie

Deriveds

untier · untieable

Synonyms

unfasten

Translations (144)

el λύνω (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · de losmachen (to free from fastening or from restraint) · pt desamarrar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · nl loskomen (to become untied or loosed) · vec desligar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · nl ontrafelen (to resolve) · de losbinden (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sk rozväzovať (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru отвя́зывать (to free from fastening or from restraint) · pt desatar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · oc desligar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sk odväzovať (to free from fastening or from restraint) · sq çlidh (to free from fastening or from restraint) · vi tháo (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · el ελευθερώνω (to free from fastening or from restraint) · mi maheno (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · mi tākiri (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · et lahti siduma (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · el ξεδένω (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru развя́зываться (to become untied or loosed) · hu kiold (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · be развя́зваць (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · tr çözmek (to resolve) · mi maheno (to become untied or loosed) · fi avautua (to become untied or loosed) · fi ratkaista (to resolve) · bg развъ́ржа (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ko 풀다 (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · be адвяза́ць (to free from fastening or from restraint) · es desanudar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · fr détacher (to become untied or loosed) · pt resolver (to resolve) · hy արձակել (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru развяза́ться (to become untied or loosed) · sk rozviazať (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sv knyta upp (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · de auflösen (to resolve) · qu paskay (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ta அவிழ் (to become untied or loosed) · pl rozwiązać (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · rup dizleg (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ar فَكَّ (to free from fastening or from restraint) · grc λύω (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · hu kifűződik (to become untied or loosed) · fr détacher (to free from fastening or from restraint) · pt soltar (to become untied or loosed) · sq zgjidh (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · vi cởi (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cs odvazovat (to free from fastening or from restraint) · uk відв'я́зувати (to free from fastening or from restraint) · el λύνομαι (to become untied or loosed) · cy datod (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ga scaoil (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sv knyta loss (to free from fastening or from restraint) · fi avata (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ml അഴിക്കുക (to free from fastening or from restraint) · it disfare (to free from fastening or from restraint) · mi whakamatora (to free from fastening or from restraint) · es desatar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · de beschließen (to resolve) · hu kifűz (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru реша́ть (to resolve) · de aufklären (to resolve) · de beseitigen (to resolve) · el ξεδένω (to free from fastening or from restraint) · csm šu·jum (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · lld deslier (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cs odvázat (to free from fastening or from restraint) · fi irrottaa (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ro dezlega (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sq çlidh (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cs rozvazovat (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · nl oplossen (to resolve) · nl losknopen (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cy datglymu (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · es desatar (to resolve) · ru реши́ть (to resolve) · mi wete (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · pt desatar (to free from fastening or from restraint) · uk відв'яза́ти (to free from fastening or from restraint) · pt desamarrar (to free from fastening or from restraint) · it sciogliersi (to become untied or loosed) · es desatarse (to become untied or loosed) · be развяза́ць (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cmn 解開 /解开 (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · bg отвъ́ржа (to free from fastening or from restraint) · bg развъ́рзвам (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · es soltar (to free from fastening or from restraint) · bg отвъ́рзвам (to free from fastening or from restraint) · mi whakamatora (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · mi maheno (to free from fastening or from restraint) · sk odviazať (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ga scaoil (to free from fastening or from restraint) · pl rozwiązywać (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ro desface (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · hu kibogoz (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · fur disleâ (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · grc λύω (to free from fastening or from restraint) · el λύνω (to free from fastening or from restraint) · nl losmaken (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · it sciogliere (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · he התיר (to free from fastening or from restraint) · nl ontwarren (to resolve) · tr çözmek (to free from fastening or from restraint) · hy քակել (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · uk розв'я́зувати (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cs rozvázat (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · hy արձակել (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ar فَكَّ (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · cy datod (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sv lösgöra (to free from fastening or from restraint) · be адвя́зваць (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ru развя́зывать (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · la solvō (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · he פָּרַם (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · mi wetewete (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · tr çözmek (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ml അഴിക്കുക (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · es desligar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ja 解く (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · it disfare (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · tr çözülmek (to become untied or loosed) · es desamarrar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · sq zgjidh (to free from fastening or from restraint) · hu kicsomóz (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · hu kioldódik (to become untied or loosed) · cy datod (to become untied or loosed) · fr détacher (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · pl odwiązywać (to free from fastening or from restraint) · ml അഴിയുക (to become untied or loosed) · uk розв'яза́ти (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru отвяза́ть (to free from fastening or from restraint) · nl losmaken (to free from fastening or from restraint) · de lösen (to resolve) · pl odwiązać (to free from fastening or from restraint) · hu kiköt (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ru развяза́ть (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · el λύνω (to resolve) · it slegare (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · fr délier (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · de sich lösen (to become untied or loosed) · ca deslligar (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · ka აქციის (to loosen, as something interlaced or knotted) · hu kikötődik (to become untied or loosed)