Obs. [OE. unlust (UN-1 12), = MDu. (Du.) onlust, MLG. unlust, OHG., MHG., G. unlust (Sw. olust), Goth. unlustu-s disinclination, displeasure, dislike. Cf. also ON. úlyst (Da. ulyst).]
1. Absence of pleasure; distress, weariness.
a. 1000. Sal. & Sat., 268 (Gr.). Se fuʓel … wylleð hinc on ðam wite, wunað unlustum.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 116. No lyif of sweete deuocyoun ne gostly gladnesse is in ȝou, but dedly heuynes, & angwysch, & vnlust.
2. Want of appetite; nausea.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 158. Læcedomas wiþ unluste & wlætan þe of maʓan cymð.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 35. Hwat mete se þi mahe hokerliche underfeð; þat is, wið unlust.
1561. Hollybush, Hom. Apoth., 22. In all hys meates lette a litle saffron be put:… but it causeth vnluste in the stomacke.
3. Disinclination to be active or bestir oneself; slothfulness, laziness, idleness.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 556. He þolað neadunge þeostra þurh wrace, se þe ær Iustlice forbær his unlustes þeostra.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2623. Forr unnlusst & forrswundennleȝȝe Iss Drihhtin swiþe unncweme.
a. 1300. Body & Soul, in Map’s Poems (Camden), 336. Gloterie and lecherie, prude and wicke coveytise,… And in unlust for to lye.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 680. He dooth all thyng … with ydelnesse and vnlust.
a. 1470. H. Parker, Dives & Pauper (W. de W., 1496), VII. xxiii. 311/2. Goodes of holy chirche … ben gyuen to helpe of the poore & … not to selle them ayen to ryche men to maynten them in unlust & in bodely ease.
b. Disinclination (for something). Const. of, to (with inf.), towards.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 291. For unlust of that aventure Ther was noman which tok tonsure.
1530. Tindale, Prol. Epist. Romans, A ij b. We fynde in oure silves vnlust and tediousnes to do good.
1535. Coverdale, Isaiah xliii. 22. Thou haddest an vnlust towarde me, o Israel.
4. Evil desire or inclination. (UN- 4 b.)
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 288 (MS. B). Hwon þe heorte draheð to hire unlust [F. a son mal desir].
5. Unpleasantness, repulsiveness.
a. 1529. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 148. Theyr tresses untrust, All full of vnlust.
