unwind

English

Etymology

From Middle English unwinden, from Old English unwindan (“to unwind; unwrap”), from Proto-Germanic *andawindaną (“to unwind”); equivalent to un- +‎ wind (“to coil”). Cognate with Dutch ontwinden (“to unwind”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʌnˈwaɪnd/
Rhymes: -aɪnd

Verb

unwind (third-person singular simple present unwinds, present participle unwinding, simple past and past participle unwound)

(transitive) To separate (something that is wound up)
to unwind a ball of yarn
Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?
Synonyms: untwist, untwine
(transitive, obsolete) To disentangle
- 1836, Richard Hooker, The Works of Richard Hooker, Volume 4, page 27:
  […] but being not so skilful as in every point to unwind themselves where the snares of glossing speech do lie to entangle them, […]
(intransitive, slang) To relax; to chill out; to rest and relieve of stress
After work, I like to unwind by smoking a pipe while reading the paper.
(intransitive) To be or become unwound; to be capable of being unwound or untwisted.
(transitive, finance) To undo something.

Related terms

wind

Translations

To wind off

Finnish: purkaa (fi)
French: dérouler (fr), débobiner (fr)
German: abwickeln (de), loswickeln, abspulen (de), abdocken (textil.)

Hungarian: legombolyít
Romanian: deșira (ro)
Spanish: desenrollar (es)

To disentangle

Finnish: avata (fi)
French: démêler (fr)

German: entwirren (de)
Turkish: çözmek (tr)

To relax

Finnish: rentoutua (fi)
French: décompresser (fr)
German: abschalten (de) (figurative), sich entspannen
Hungarian: ellazul (hu)

Portuguese: espairecer (pt)
Spanish: relajarse (es)
Swedish: varva ner
Turkish: gevşemek (tr), rahatlamak (tr)

To be or become unwound

Finnish: purkautua
French: se défaire (fr)

German: sich abwickeln

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} afwikkelen (nl)