Forms: 1 unlǽde, 3 vnlede (-ledde), oun-, 4 onlede; 7 unleed, -lead, 9 unlete. [OE. unlǽd(e (UN-1 7), = Goth. unlêds (or unlêþs) poor.]
1. adj. Unhappy, miserable; wicked, evil; dreadful.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 976. Solde euch mon wonie & grede, Riȝt suich hi weren unlede.
c. 1275. Sinners Beware, 72, in O. E. Misc., 74. To donne he beoþ swete. Þy vs is eþ-gete Helle þat is vnlede.
c. 1315. Shoreham, I. 588. Ounde and wreþe and coueytyng, Sleuþe and lestes on-lede.
a. 1400. St. Alexius (Trin.). 333. Ofte hy him bete and burste, Þo vnlede fode.
2. sb. A vile or detestable person or thing.
c. 1315. Shoreham, IV. 235. Þe ferste pryns hys prede, Þat ledeþ þane flok, Þat of alle oþere onlede Hys rote and eke stok.
1677. Nicolson, in Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. (1870), IX. 321. Unlead, outlaw.
1691. Ray, N. C. Words, 138. Unleed or Unlead,… any orawling venomous creature; as a Toad, etc. It’s sometimes ascribed to Man, and there it denotes a sly wicked fellow,… the very pest of Society.
1829. Brockett, N. C. Gloss. (ed. 2), 315. Unletes, displacers or destroyers of the farmer’s produce.
