unspell
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Etymology edit
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unspell (third-person singular simple present unspells, present participle unspelling, simple past and past participle unspelled)
- (transitive) To break the power of (a spell); to release (a person) from the influence of a spell; to disenchant.
- 1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 5:
- Such practices as Theſe, too groſs to lye / Long unobſerv'd by each diſcerning Eye, / The more judicious Iſraelites Unſpell'd, / Though ſtill the Charm the giddy Rabble held, [...]
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “unspell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)