uneath

Alternative forms

• unneth (14th-17th centuries)
• unnethe, unnethes
• uneth, unethe, unneath, unnethes, unethes, uneathes

Etymology

From Middle English unethe, uneathe (“difficult, not easy”), from Old English unēaþe (“difficult, not easy”), equivalent to un- +‎ eath. More at eath, easy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌˈniːθ/

Adjective

uneath

1. not easy; hard
   • Spenser

     Who he was, uneath was to descry.

Adverb

uneath

1. (archaic) Not easily; hardly, scarcely.
   • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)

     Who he was, uneath was to descry.

   • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

     Uneath may she endure the flinty streets.

2. (obsolete) Reluctantly, unwillingly.
   • 1485 July 31, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London: William Caxton], OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur, London: Published by David Nutt, in the Strand, 1889, OCLC 890162034:
     , Bk.VII:

     Ryght so Sir Launcelot departed with grete hevynes, that unneth he myght susteyne hymselff for grete dole-makynge.

Anagrams

• Huante, unhate