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(ri
) Pl. wreaths (ri
z). Forms: 1 wri
a, wri
a, 4-5 wree, 4-6 wrethe, 5 Sc. wreth, 6 wreith, wrayth, 6-7, 9 wreathe, 6- wreath (9 north. dial. wreeath). [OE. wri
a, wri
a, f. the weak grade of the stem of wrian WRITHE v.1 Cf. WRITH n.
The alleged OE. wr
as a variant of wrd rests only on a transcript by Junius.
Walker (1791) gives the pronunciations (ri
) and (ri
), preferring the former on grounds of analogy, though he thinks it ‘the least usual mode’. Occasional rimes of that period (e.g. Roscoe, Shelley) attest the currency of the latter pronunciation.]
I. 1. Something wound, wreathed, or coiled into a circular shape or form; a twisted or wreathed band, fillet, or the like.
c1000 ÆLFRIC Saints' Lives xxiii. 608 Hi..becnytton anne
wri
an eall onbutan his swuran.
a1050 Liber Scint. (1889) 200 Mid
wrian treowenum [L.
loramento ligneo]
ewrien grundweall..na
by toslopen.
13.. Gosp. Nicod. 65 A wonden wrethe
at his heued hyd Spred he all furth on brede.
c1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxiii, For sometyme
ei croiteth in wrethes and sometyme flatte.
1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. XVII. clii, The sowles & stakes be pyghte in the grounde, & there abowte ben wrethes wouen & wounden of thornes & roddes.
1530 PALSGR. 290/2 Wrethe of olde cordes dypped in grece and pytche,..
tour~biginaulx.
1552 in Feuillerat
Revels Edw. VI (1914) 120 White taffata for wreathes abowte their hattes.
1634 SIR T. HERBERT Trav. 187 A low Tulipant (or wreath of silke and gold).
1642 FULLER Holy & Prof. St. V. xv. 420 Where one gaineth a garland of bayes, hundreds have had a wreath of hemp.
1656 J. SMITH Pract. Physick 162 Let them be thicker, by wispes or wreathes of small
sticks
wrapt up in linnen.
1769 FALCONER Dict. Marine (1780) s.v.
Rigging, A circular wreath or rope, called the grommet, or collar.
c1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 122
Grommets,..wreaths of rope which confine the oars.
1868 ATKINSON Cleveland Gloss.,
Garlands, wreaths of ribbon enclosing a white glove.
1883 GRESLEY Gloss. Coal-mining 295
Wreaths, four short pieces of hemp rope placed round the legs of a horse.
b. A ring, band, or circlet of (usu. precious) metal, etc., esp. for wearing as an ornament; a torque.
a1000 Riddles lix. [lx.] 5
Friospede bæd God
nerende gæste sinum se
e wende
wrian.
c1000 ÆLFRIC Hom. I. 568 Ic
eslea ænne
wri
an on his nosu, and ænne bridel on his weleras.
13.. K. Alis. 5723 (Laud MS.), A griselich best..;
Tee he had so
wreen wrien.
c1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlvii. (
Euphemia) 196 To quham
e lug..gef a kirtil & of fyne gold a wrethe
ar-til.
c1386 CHAUCER Knt.'s T. 1287 A wrethe of gold..Vpon his heed, set ful of stones brighte.
1456 SIR G. HAYE Law Arms (S.T.S.) 46 [He] tuke..a grete wreth of golde..and put it about his hals.
1443 in
Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 111 The scheriffez of Coventre hath..a salt seller, the wrethis gilt.
1521 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 203 Cum uno flore argenti in fundo, cum uno wreith deaurato circa florem.
c1530 Hickscorner 587 They be yemen of the wrethe that be shakled in gyues. [
1855 THORPE tr.
Beowulf 4041 Oft she a ringed wreath [OE.
beah-wri
an] to the warrior gave.]
c. Her. A representation of a ring or circlet used as a bearing; spec. the circular fillet or twisted band by which the crest is joined to the helmet; = ORLE 1c. Also fig. (quot. 1622).
1478, etc. [see
TIMBRE n.2]
1513 in
Glover's Hist. Derby (1829) I. App. 61 Robert Darley bayryth..3 barrs upon his nek, sabul unde or wave, issant owt of a wrayth goulls and sylver.
1572 J. BOSSEWELL Armorie 105 He beareth on a wreathe ‘Topaze’ and ‘Saphiere’ an Alcian.
1622 BACON Hen. VII (1876) 15 The wreath of three, was made a wreath of five; for to the three first titles of the two houses..were added two more.
1688 HOLME Armoury II. 393/2 A Sarazens Face..environed about the Temples with a Wreath or Torce.
1780 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) V. 3608 The Wreath is a kind of roll..which ancient knights wore as a head-dress when equipped for tournaments.
1864 BOUTELL Her. Hist. & Pop. xvii. 265 The Crest was worn supported by a Chapeau or Wreath.
1869 CUSSANS Her. 172 A Coronet, or a Wreath,..was composed of two strands of twisted silk, on which the Crest appeared to be supported.
Ibid., The Wreath, Bandeau, or Torse (sometimes, though improperly, styled a Chaplet).
d. A metal ring forming a holder for a spindle.
1733 TULL Horse-Hoeing Husb. xxii. 335 The Spindle is kept from moving end-ways, by Wreaths, in the same Manner as the Axis of a Wheel-Barrow is.
Ibid. xxiii. 377 The Hopper and Spindle are..kept in their Place..by two Wreaths screw'd on to the Spindle.
2. Something resembling or comparable to a twisted or circular band; esp. a coil of a spiral column of smoke, steam, or the like.
Before c 1790 rare; freq. from c 1820: cf. next.
1667 MILTON P.L. VI. 58 So spake the Sovran voice, and Clouds began To darken all the Hill, and smoak to rowl In duskie wreathes.
1836 [H
OOTON]
Bilberry Thurland I. ix. 181 Having lit her pipe, to add a few more wreathes to the general volume.
1866 All Year Round XV. 189/1 Certain misty
wreathsthe skirts..of an adjacent
sea-fogkept sweeping up the valley.
1899 GUNTER M. S. Bradford xvi, 210 As he puffs the wreaths out of his complacent lips.
b. Freq. const. of (smoke, etc.).
1789 WORDSW. Evening Walk 112 As the sun declines..The shepherd, all involved in wreaths of fire,..shows a shadowy speck.
1794 
Guilt & Sorrow lviii, Where wreaths of vapour tracked a winding brook.
1797 SCOTT Erl-King ii, It is but a dark wreath of the cloud.
1859 DICKENS T. Two Cities II. v, Wreaths of dust were spinning round..before the morning blast.
1875 BUCKLAND Log-bk. 365 Wreaths of sea came rolling in.
1894 HALL CAINE Manxman V. iii. 288 The homes of the fishermen were putting out curling wreaths of smoke.
c. A bank or drift of snow; a snow-wreath, snowdrift. Freq. wreath of snow. orig. (and chiefly) Sc.
1725 RAMSAY Gentle Sheph. I. ii, The thick blawn Wreaths of Snaw..May smoor your Wathers.
1744 THOMSON Winter 828 Scarce his Head Rais'd o'er the heapy Wreath, the branching Elk Lies slumbering sullen in the white Abyss.
c1790 in Burns
Wks. (1800) IV. 177 Weeping at the eye o' life, I wander through a wreath o' snaw.
1806 J. GRAHAME Birds of Scot. 13 While yet in mountain cleughs Lingers the frozen wreath.
1843 PRESCOTT Mexico V. ii. (1864) 284 [He] lived to see his empire melt away like the winter's wreath.
1855 KINGSLEY Glaucus 26 Those wild gardens amid the wreaths of the untrodden snow.
d. transf. A bank of sand.
1892 STEVENSON Across the Plains 207 Endless links and sand wreaths.
3. Each of the turns, convolutions, or coils of a ringed or spiral structure, spiral shell, etc.; a whirl, whorl.
1641 BEST Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 61 There is in most hives 17 or 18 wreathes.
Ibid., 4 wreathes from the bottome.
1650 FULLER Pisgah V. vii. 155 The four first wreaths of my scrue are undoubtedly..true.
1669 Phil. Trans. IV. 1012 The open of the shell is pretty sound, the second turn or wreath is very large for the proportion.
1712 J. MORTON Nat. Hist. Northampt. 416 A small Brown Buccinum.., with a roundish Mouth of six Wreaths.
1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v.
Scalare, A peculiar species of..screw shell, the several wreaths of which [etc.].
1778 W. H. MARSHALL Minutes Agric., Observ. 58 Let the wreaths (or twists) of the [sheaf] bands be turned upward, toward the ears.
1818 Gleaner's Port-folio Sept. 68 The wreaths being ornamented with transverse undulating costæ.
b. Conch. The genus Turbo (TURBO 2); a turbinated or wreathed shell; a turbinate.
1777 PENNANT Brit. Zool. (ed. 4) IV. 128
Turbo. Wreath... Its animal [is] a Slug.
1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 595/2 The clathrus, or barbed wreath, has a taper shell of eight spires.
1815 BURROW Elem. Conchol. 203
Turbo, Whorl or Wreath.
c. Bot. = COROLLA 2. Obs.
1760 J. LEE Introd. Bot. I. iii. (1765) 7 The Petal..encloses and protects it [
sc. the flower] in the manner of a Corolla, or Wreath.
4. A fold, crease, or wrinkle.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 1093 Alle falterde
e flesche in his foule lyppys, Ilke wrethe as a wolfe-heuede, it wraythe owtt at ones!
1600 SURFLET Countrie Farme III. xxvii. 484 As it [
sc. the fig] is verie fat the iuice doth constraine the skin to fall into wreathes.
1610 MARKHAM Masterp. II. v. 225 If he haue a short chub neck, with a thicke skin, and many wreathes, or rolles, about the setting on of his chaps.
1677 N. COX Gentl. Recreat. I. 126 The Wild-Goat is as big as a Hart... They have Wreaths and Wrinkles on their Horns.
1737 BRACKEN Farriery Impr. (1740) II. 71 You will know whether it [
sc. the horny part of the hoof] be smooth and even, or, otherwise, in Wreathes or Wrinkles.
b. A raised band or string-course. rare
1.
1677 MIÉGE Fr. Dict. 1,
Cordon de muraille, an outstanding wreath or edge of stone on the out-side of a building, commonly distinguishing the several Stories.
c. north. dial. (See quot.)
1828 CARR Craven Gloss. 271
Wreath, the mark and swelling on the skin occasioned by a blow.
5. a. = ROLL n.1 8c. Now dial.
1556 WITHALS Dict. (1562) 43b/1 A wase or wreath to be layed vnder the vessell, that is borne vpon the head.
1570 LEVINS Manip. 213 A Wreath,
cirrus, cesticillus.
1687 MIÉGE Gt. Fr. Dict. 1,
Tortillon,..a Wreath of Cloth which Women lay upon their heads when they carry a Pail or Basket.
1706 PHILLIPS (ed. Kersey).
1855-76 in Yorks. glossaries.
1876 Whitby Gloss. 172 The
skeel..is carried on a ‘wreath’ or pad.
b. A roll of bread. (Cf. TORTE.) Obs.
1600 HAKLUYT Voy. III. 220 They beat their corne to powder: then they make paste of it, and of the paste, cakes or wreathes.
1615 R. COCKS Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 47 A present of..10 wreathes of bread, and a basket of grapes.
c. (See quot.) Obs. rare.
1611 COTGR.,
Penide, a Pennet; the little wreath of sugar taken in a cold.
6. a. A twist, coil, or winding (of some material thing or natural growth); a sinuosity; a winding motion.
1589 ? LYLY Pappe w. Hatchet Div, The Cedar..knitteth it selfe with such wreaths into the earth, that it cannot be remooued.
a1600 HOOKER Eccl. Pol. VII. xviii. (1662) 53 The second wreath of that Cable.
1617 MORYSON Itin. I. 242 The very tailes of them [
sc. large sheep] hanging in many wreathes to the ground.
1667 MILTON P.L. IX. 517 Of his tortuous Traine [the serpent] Curld many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve.
1702 POPE Sappho 149 Round your neck in wanton wreaths I twine.
1762 FALCONER Shipwr. II. 213 A troop of porpoises..In curling wreaths..gambol on the tide.
1810 SHELLEY Posth. Fragm. M. Nicholson, Spectral Horseman 50 Then does the dragon..twine his vast wreaths round the forms of the daemons.
1815 Alastor 338 Twilight..Entwined in duskier wreaths her braided locks O'er the fair front..of day.
1898 MEREDITH Odes Fr. Hist. 72 A lowly look on..twisted wreaths of the worm in dirt.
b. Venery. The tail of a boar. Obs.
1576 TURBERV. Venerie 241 The tayle of a Bore is to be termed his wreath.
1598 J. MANWOOD Lawes Forest iv. 27b.
1616 BULLOKAR Eng. Expos. [Hence in some later Dicts.]
1627 J. TAYLOR (Water P.)
Navy Landships D2, A Deere, Bore, a Hare,..haue no more tayles then a Iack-an-Apes, for it is a Deeres Single, a Bores Wreath, a Hare or Connyes Scut. [
1817 PUCKLE Club 90 [The flatterer's] next discourse was of the tail or single of a deer, the wreath of a boar.]
7. Something formed by twisting; yarn of a specified texture.
1757 DYER Fleece III. 61 A diff'rent spinning ev'ry diff'rent web Asks from your glowing fingers: some require The more compact, and some the looser wreath.
8. A curve in the handrail or string of a geometrical stair; that part of the handrail which bends round such curve.
1814 P. NICHOLSON in
Trans. Soc. Arts XXXII. 134 The Plank, out of which the Wreath is to be cut.
1820 Staircases, etc. p. iii, Squaring the wreath upon geometrical principles.
1871 R. R
IDDELL Carp. & Joiner 68 In this case the wreath must be in two pieces.
1881 Dict. Architecture s.v., A wreath of a staircase handrail is continuous in a circular or elliptic staircase.
9. south. dial. (See quots.)
1813 DAVIS Agric. Wilts. 268
Wreaths, the long rods of hurdles used for sheep-folding.
1856 Morton's Cycle. Agric. II. 727
Wreathes, (Dorset.), withes to keep hurdles and sowels together.
10. techn. A defect in glass (esp. flint glass), consisting in almost imperceptible striæ producing certain optical aberrations. ? Obs.
1839 URE Dict. Arts 584 An uniform flint-glass, free from striæ, or wreath, is much in demand for the optician.
Ibid., Glass allowed to cool slowly in mass in the pot is particularly full of wreath.
II. 11. A chaplet or garland of flowers, leaves, or the like, esp. worn or awarded as a mark of distinction, honour, etc. Also rarely without article.
1563 SHUTE Archit. Divb, The whiche Astragalus shalbe as it were certaine round beryes and the other Astragalus..shalbe wrothonne [
sic] like a wreath.
1589 WARNER Alb. Eng. I. iii. 7 Apollos sonne perceauing him with Garland on his head,..caused him to cast the wreath away.
1596 DRAYTON Legends iii. (1605) Gg8, Goddesse of Artes and Armes,.. Be thou assisting to this Poet of mine, With funerall wreathes incompassing his browes.
1628, etc. [see
LAUREATE a. 1b].
1694 PRIOR Hymn to Sun ii, As His Infant Months bestow Springing Wreaths for William's Brow.
1737 GLOVER Leonidas I. 196 He the wreath Pontific bore amid the Spartan camp.
1784 COWPER Task v. 712 But fairer wreaths are due..To those who, posted at the shrine of truth, Have fall'n in her defence.
1821 BYRON Sardan. I. ii, The shepherd kings of patriarchal times, Who knew no brighter gems than summer wreaths.
1839 DICKENS Nich. Nick. xxiv, Mrs. Borum and the governess cast wreaths upon the stage.
1842 TENNYSON Talking Oak 288 She..shall wear Alternate leaf and acorn-ball In wreath about her hair.
1891 Science-Gossip XXVII. 29/2 He is ready to resign his victor's wreath to Darwin.
fig. and
transf. 1593 MARLOWE Edw. II,
V. i, [May] this crowne,..like the snakie wreathe of Tisiphon, Engirt the temples of his hatefull head.
1612 DRAYTON Poly-olb. v. 61 Hee..gained The Stewards nobler name: and..attain'd The royal Scottish wreath, upholding it in state.
1613 BROWNE Brit. Past. I. iv. 73 Sow-thistle.., whose downy wreath If any one can blow off at a breath, We deeme her for a maide.
1784 COWPER Task VI. 938 There he..obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself, And never with'ring wreaths.
1799 CAMPBELL Pleas. Hope I. 46 Auspicious Hope! in thy sweet garden grow Wreaths for each toil.
1817 SHELLEY Rev. Islam VI. xvii, Twilight o'er the east wove her serenest wreath.
1835 WORDSW. Death Jas. Hogg 30 Our haughty life is crowned with darkness. Like London with its own black wreath.
b. Const. of.
c1450 Mirk's Festial I. 113, I for
e on my hed suffyr a
wree of stynkyng
ornes.
1595 SPENSER Epith. 256 Hymen also crowne with wreathes of vine.
1671 MILTON P.R. II. 459 A Crown, Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns, Brings dangers.
1697 DRYDEN Æneis v. 177 The common Crew, with Wreaths of Poplar Boughs, Their Temples crown.
1704 POPE Summer 10 The Muse..adds this wreath of Ivy to thy Bays.
1800 WORDSW. Ellen Irwin 4 A Grecian maid Adorned with wreaths of myrtle.
fig. and
transf. 1605 SHAKES. Lear II. ii. 113 The wreath of radiant fire On flicking
Ph
bus front.
1812 J. WILSON Isle of Palms II. 397 The glory..That plays like a wreath of halo-light Around his Mary's head.
1841 EMERSON Ess., Love §5 The remembrance of these visions..is a wreath of flowers on the oldest brows.
1868 FARRAR Silence & V. iii. (1875) 60 The power and splendour of her literature, conferred upon her [
sc. Greece] a wreath of unfading admiration.
c. A trailing cluster of flowers, tendrils, etc.
1610 HOLLAND Camden's Brit. 631 A poore Chappel..adorned onlie with wilde mosse, and wreathes of clasping Ivie.
1784 COWPER Task v. 158 Long wavy wreaths Of flow'rs..Blush'd on the panels.
1798 WORDSW. Lines in Early Spring 10 Through primrose tufts..The periwinkle trailed its wreaths.
1881 E. WAUGH Lancs. Songs (ed. 5) 84 Wreaths of fairy frost-work hung Where grew last summer's leaves.
d. purple wreath: (see PURPLE a. C2c).
1864 GRISEBACH Flora W. Ind. 789.
1890 Cent. Dict.,
Petrea volubilis, the purple wreath,..is a native of the West India islands and of the mainland from Vera Cruz southward.
e. As the title of a book comprising a collection of short literary pieces: = GARLAND n. 4.
In frequent use from c 1825.
1753 (title), The Wreath: a Curious Collection of New Songs. 1799 E. DUBOIS (title), The Wreath; composed of Selections from Sappho [etc.]..accompanied by a prose Translation and Notes. 1843 (title), The Ayrshire Wreath: a Collection of Original Pieces, in Prose and Verse. 1881 ‘A.L.O.E.’ (title), A Wreath of Indian Stories.
f. A representation of a wreath in decorative work, metal, stone, etc.
1847 C. BRONTË J. Eyre iii, A certain brightly painted china plate, whose bird of paradise, nestling in a wreath of convolvuli and rosebuds, had [etc.].
1890 YOUNG Ann. Barber-Surg. Lond 506 Four.. wrought silver garlands or wreaths for crowning the Master and Wardens on Election Day.
12. A twisted mass (of something). Obs.0
1648 HEXHAM II,
Een Wrongel van Pieren ofte Wormen, a Wreath of Wormes for bobbing.
III. 13. attrib. and Comb., as wreath hurdle, line, -offering, part, rail, work; wreath-drifted, maker, -wise; wreath animalcule (see quot. and cf. PERIDINIAL a.); wreath shell = sense 3b; wreath-wort, the early purple orchis, O. mascula.
1854 A. ADAMS, etc.
Man. Nat. Hist. 370 *Wreath-Animalcules (
Peridiniidæ).
1832 MOTHERWELL Poet. Wks. 76 More dazzlingly white Than the *wreath-drifted snows.
1818 Sporting Mag. II. 181 The making of *wreath hurdles is a profitable business.
1825 J. NICHOLSON Operat. Mechanic 597 Draw a line, which will give the *wreath line formed by the nosings of the winders.
1881 Instr. Census Clerks 55 Artificial Flower Maker:..Shell Flower Maker. *Wreath Maker.
a1835 MRS. HEMANS Korner & Sister Poems (1875) 425 With his *wreath-offering silently to stand In the hush'd presence of the glorious dead.
1825 J. NICHOLSON Operat. Mechanic 597 In preparing the string for the *wreath part, a cylinder should be made.
1820 P. NICHOLSON Staircases, etc. 17 Getting a *wreath rail out of the least quantity of stuff.
1825 W. HAMILTON Hand-book 423
Turbo, the *wreath shell.
1845 J. C. MANGAN German Anthol. II. 105 Hand-with-hand, linked *wreathwise round, The virgins dance in order.
1686 PLOT Staffordsh. 384 The same person..hath contrived an Engine to turne *wreath work.
1730 W. G
EORGE in
Mem. W. Stukeley (Surtees) III. 255 Another large partition, encompassed with plaited wreath-work.
1884 W. MILLER Plant-n. 148 Purple *Wreath-wort.
Hence 
wreathage, wreaths collectively. rare1.
1883 W. ALLINGHAM in
Athenæum July 79 Then one sees..In their hedgerow wreathage manifold Clustering.
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