OriginFrom Middle English unseyen, unseien, from Old English onseċġan (“to deny, renounce”), from Proto-West Germanic *andasaggjan (“to unsay, renounce, deny”), equivalent to un- + say. Cognate with Dutch ontzeggen (“to deny”), German entsagen (“to renounce, abjure”).
- To withdraw, retract (something said).
“And in the first place, you will be so good as to unsay that story about selling his head, which if true I take to be good evidence that this harpooneer is stark mad […]”
- To cause something not to have been said; to make it so that one never said something (since this is physically impossible, usually in the subjunctive).
“I wish I could unsay that.”
“There are some things I'd like to unsay... to my boss... right before he decided to fire me.”
“Certainly if Chriſts Apoſtle have ſet down but two, then according to his own words, though he himſelf ſhuld unſay it, and not only the Angel of Smyrna, but an Angel from Heaven ſhould bear us down th”
Formsunsays(present, singular, third-person) · unsaying(participle, present) · unsaid(participle, past) · unsaid(past)