unmaken

Middle English

Etymology

From un- +‎ maken.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /unˈmaːkən/

Verb

unmaken (third-person singular simple present unmaketh, present participle unmakende, unmakynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative unmade, past participle unmad)

1. (transitive) to unmake, to destroy, to kill
2. (transitive) to abrogate, to annul, to abolish
3. (transitive) to bring (someone) to ruin or a lowly state; also to depose, to dethrone (a ruler)
4. (in the past participle) uncreated, unmade, existing eternally
   • a. 1450, The Creation and the Fall of Lucifer in The York Plays, as recorded c. 1463–1477 in British Museum MS. Additional 35290:

     I am gracyus and grete, god withoutyn begynnyng, / I am maker vnmade, all mighte es in me, / I am lyfe and way vnto welth-wynnyng, / I am formaste and fyrste, als I byd sall it be.

     I am gracious and great, God without beginning, / I am the unmade maker—all might is in me, / I am life and the way to the attainment of salvation, / I am foremost and first—as I command, it shall be.

5. (in the past participle) incomplete, unfinished

Conjugation

Conjugation of unmaken (weak irregular)

infinitive	(to) unmaken, unmake
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	unmake	unmade
2nd-person singular	unmakest	unmadest
3rd-person singular	unmaketh	unmade
subjunctive singular	unmake
imperative singular		—
plural1	unmaken, unmake	unmaden, unmade
imperative plural	unmaketh, unmake	—
participles	unmakynge, unmakende	unmad

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: unmake

References

• “unmāken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.