| 释义 |
wreath|riːθ|
Pl. wreaths |riːðz|. Forms: 1 wriða, wriþa, 4–5 wreþe, 4–6 wrethe, 5 Sc. wreth, 6 wreith, wrayth, 6–7, 9 wreathe, 6– wreath (9 north. dial. wreeath).
[OE. wriða, wriþa, f. the weak grade of the stem of wriþan writhe v.1 Cf. writh n.
The alleged OE. wrǽð as a variant of wrǽd rests only on a transcript by Junius.
Walker (1791) gives the pronunciations |riːθ| and |riːð|, 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.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives xxiii. 608 Hi..becnytton anne wriþan eall onbutan his swuran. a1050Liber Scint. (1889) 200 Mid wriþan treowenum [L. loramento ligneo] ᵹewriþen grundweall..na byþ toslopen. 13..Gosp. Nicod. 65 A wonden wrethe þat his heued hyd Spred he all furth on brede. c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxiii, For sometyme þei croiteth in wrethes and sometyme flatte. 1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvii. clii, The sowles & stakes be pyghte in the grounde, & there abowte ben wrethes wouen & wounden of thornes & roddes. 1530Palsgr. 290/2 Wrethe of olde cordes dypped in grece and pytche,..tour⁓biginaulx. 1552in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 120 White taffata for wreathes abowte their hattes. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 187 A low Tulipant (or wreath of silke and gold). 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xv. 420 Where one gaineth a garland of bayes, hundreds have had a wreath of hemp. 1656J. Smith Pract. Physick 162 Let them be thicker, by wispes or wreathes of small sticks—wrapt up in linnen. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Rigging, A circular wreath or rope, called the grommet, or collar. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 122 Grommets,..wreaths of rope which confine the oars. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Garlands, wreaths of ribbon enclosing a white glove. 1883Gresley 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.
a1000Riddles lix. [lx.] 5 Friþospede bæd God nerᵹende gæste sinum se þe wende wriþan. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 568 Ic ᵹeslea ænne wriðan on his nosu, and ænne bridel on his weleras. 13..K. Alis. 5723 (Laud MS.), A griselich best..; Teeþ he had so wreþen wriþen. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xlvii. (Euphemia) 196 To quham þe lug..gef a kirtil & of fyne gold a wrethe þar-til. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1287 A wrethe of gold..Vpon his heed, set ful of stones brighte. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 46 [He] tuke..a grete wreth of golde..and put it about his hals. 1443in Rep. MSS. Ld. Middleton (1911) 111 The scheriffez of Coventre hath..a salt seller, the wrethis gilt. 1521Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 203 Cum uno flore argenti in fundo, cum uno wreith deaurato circa florem. c1530Hickscorner 587 They be yemen of the wrethe that be shakled in gyues. [1855Thorpe tr. Beowulf 4041 Oft she a ringed wreath [OE. beah-wriðan] 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 1 c. Also fig. (quot. 1622).
1478, etc. [see timbre n.2] 1513in 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. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie 105 He beareth on a wreathe ‘Topaze’ and ‘Saphiere’ an Alcian. 1622Bacon 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. 1688Holme Armoury II. 393/2 A Sarazens Face..environed about the Temples with a Wreath or Torce. 1780Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) V. 3608 The Wreath is a kind of roll..which ancient knights wore as a head-dress when equipped for tournaments. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xvii. 265 The Crest was worn supported by a Chapeau or Wreath. 1869Cussans 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.
1733Tull 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.
1667Milton 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[Hooton] Bilberry Thurland I. ix. 181 Having lit her pipe, to add a few more wreathes to the general volume. 1866All Year Round XV. 189/1 Certain misty wreaths—the skirts..of an adjacent sea-fog—kept sweeping up the valley. 1899Gunter M. S. Bradford xvi, 210 As he puffs the wreaths out of his complacent lips.
b. Freq. const. of (smoke, etc.).
1789Wordsw. 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. 1797Scott Erl-King ii, It is but a dark wreath of the cloud. 1859Dickens T. Two Cities ii. v, Wreaths of dust were spinning round..before the morning blast. 1875Buckland Log-bk. 365 Wreaths of sea came rolling in. 1894Hall 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.
1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, The thick blawn Wreaths of Snaw..May smoor your Wathers. 1744Thomson Winter 828 Scarce his Head Rais'd o'er the heapy Wreath, the branching Elk Lies slumbering sullen in the white Abyss. c1790in Burns Wks. (1800) IV. 177 Weeping at the eye o' life, I wander through a wreath o' snaw. 1806J. Grahame Birds of Scot. 13 While yet in mountain cleughs Lingers the frozen wreath. 1843Prescott Mexico v. ii. (1864) 284 [He] lived to see his empire melt away like the winter's wreath. 1855Kingsley Glaucus 26 Those wild gardens amid the wreaths of the untrodden snow.
d. transf. A bank of sand.
1892Stevenson 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.
1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 61 There is in most hives 17 or 18 wreathes. Ibid., 4 wreathes from the bottome. 1650Fuller Pisgah v. vii. 155 The four first wreaths of my scrue are undoubtedly..true. 1669Phil. Trans. IV. 1012 The open of the shell is pretty sound, the second turn or wreath is very large for the proportion. 1712J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northampt. 416 A small Brown Buccinum.., with a roundish Mouth of six Wreaths. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Scalare, A peculiar species of..screw shell, the several wreaths of which [etc.]. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric., Observ. 58 Let the wreaths (or twists) of the [sheaf] bands be turned upward, toward the ears. 1818Gleaner'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.
1777Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4) IV. 128 Turbo. Wreath... Its animal [is] a Slug. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 595/2 The clathrus, or barbed wreath, has a taper shell of eight spires. 1815Burrow Elem. Conchol. 203 Turbo, Whorl or Wreath.
†c. Bot. = corolla 2. Obs.
1760J. 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.
a1400Morte Arth. 1093 Alle falterde þe flesche in his foule lyppys, Ilke wrethe as a wolfe-heuede, it wraythe owtt at ones! 1600Surflet Countrie Farme iii. xxvii. 484 As it [sc. the fig] is verie fat the iuice doth constraine the skin to fall into wreathes. 1610Markham 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. 1677N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. 126 The Wild-Goat is as big as a Hart... They have Wreaths and Wrinkles on their Horns. 1737Bracken 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.
1677Miége 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.)
1828Carr Craven Gloss. 271 Wreath, the mark and swelling on the skin occasioned by a blow.
5. a. = roll n.1 8 c. Now dial.
1556Withals Dict. (1562) 43 b/1 A wase or wreath to be layed vnder the vessell, that is borne vpon the head. 1570Levins Manip. 213 A Wreath, cirrus, cesticillus. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. 1, Tortillon,..a Wreath of Cloth which Women lay upon their heads when they carry a Pail or Basket. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1855–76in Yorks. glossaries. 1876Whitby Gloss. 172 The skeel..is carried on a ‘wreath’ or pad.
†b. A roll of bread. (Cf. torte.) Obs.
1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 220 They beat their corne to powder: then they make paste of it, and of the paste, cakes or wreathes. 1615R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 47 A present of..10 wreathes of bread, and a basket of grapes.
†c. (See quot.) Obs. rare.
1611Cotgr., 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 D iv, The Cedar..knitteth it selfe with such wreaths into the earth, that it cannot be remooued. a1600Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. xviii. (1662) 53 The second wreath of that Cable. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 242 The very tailes of them [sc. large sheep] hanging in many wreathes to the ground. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 517 Of his tortuous Traine [the serpent] Curld many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. 1702Pope Sappho 149 Round your neck in wanton wreaths I twine. 1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 213 A troop of porpoises..In curling wreaths..gambol on the tide. 1810Shelley 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. 1898Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 72 A lowly look on..twisted wreaths of the worm in dirt.
†b. Venery. The tail of a boar. Obs.
1576Turberv. Venerie 241 The tayle of a Bore is to be termed his wreath. 1598J. Manwood Lawes Forest iv. 27 b. 1616Bullokar Eng. Expos. [Hence in some later Dicts.] 1627J. Taylor (Water P.) Navy Landships D 2, 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. [1817Puckle 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.
1757Dyer 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.
1814P. 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. 1871R. Riddell Carp. & Joiner 68 In this case the wreath must be in two pieces. 1881Dict. Architecture s.v., A wreath of a staircase handrail is continuous in a circular or elliptic staircase.
9. south. dial. (See quots.)
1813Davis Agric. Wilts. 268 Wreaths, the long rods of hurdles used for sheep-folding. 1856Morton'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.
1839Ure 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.
1563Shute Archit. D iv b, The whiche Astragalus shalbe as it were certaine round beryes and the other Astragalus..shalbe wrothonne [sic] like a wreath. 1589Warner Alb. Eng. i. iii. 7 Apollos sonne perceauing him with Garland on his head,..caused him to cast the wreath away. 1596Drayton Legends iii. (1605) Gg 8, Goddesse of Artes and Armes,.. Be thou assisting to this Poet of mine, With funerall wreathes incompassing his browes. 1628, etc. [see laureate a. 1 b]. 1694Prior Hymn to Sun ii, As His Infant Months bestow Springing Wreaths for William's Brow. 1737Glover Leonidas i. 196 He the wreath Pontific bore amid the Spartan camp. 1784Cowper Task v. 712 But fairer wreaths are due..To those who, posted at the shrine of truth, Have fall'n in her defence. 1821Byron Sardan. i. ii, The shepherd kings of patriarchal times, Who knew no brighter gems than summer wreaths. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. xxiv, Mrs. Borum and the governess cast wreaths upon the stage. 1842Tennyson Talking Oak 288 She..shall wear Alternate leaf and acorn-ball In wreath about her hair. 1891Science-Gossip XXVII. 29/2 He is ready to resign his victor's wreath to Darwin.
fig. and transf.1593Marlowe Edw. II, v. i, [May] this crowne,..like the snakie wreathe of Tisiphon, Engirt the temples of his hatefull head. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. v. 61 Hee..gained The Stewards nobler name: and..attain'd The royal Scottish wreath, upholding it in state. 1613Browne 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. 1784Cowper Task vi. 938 There he..obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself, And never with'ring wreaths. 1799Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 46 Auspicious Hope! in thy sweet garden grow Wreaths for each toil. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam vi. xvii, Twilight o'er the east wove her serenest wreath. 1835Wordsw. Death Jas. Hogg 30 Our haughty life is crowned with darkness. Like London with its own black wreath.
b. Const. of.
c1450Mirk's Festial i. 113, I for þe on my hed suffyr a wreþe of stynkyng þornes. 1595Spenser Epith. 256 Hymen also crowne with wreathes of vine. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 459 A Crown, Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns, Brings dangers. 1697Dryden æneis v. 177 The common Crew, with Wreaths of Poplar Boughs, Their Temples crown. 1704Pope Summer 10 The Muse..adds this wreath of Ivy to thy Bays. 1800Wordsw. Ellen Irwin 4 A Grecian maid Adorned with wreaths of myrtle.
fig. and transf.1605Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 113 The wreath of radiant fire On flicking Phœbus front. 1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 397 The glory..That plays like a wreath of halo-light Around his Mary's head. 1841Emerson Ess., Love §5 The remembrance of these visions..is a wreath of flowers on the oldest brows. 1868Farrar 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.
1610Holland Camden's Brit. 631 A poore Chappel..adorned onlie with wilde mosse, and wreathes of clasping Ivie. 1784Cowper Task v. 158 Long wavy wreaths Of flow'rs..Blush'd on the panels. 1798Wordsw. Lines in Early Spring 10 Through primrose tufts..The periwinkle trailed its wreaths. 1881E. Waugh Lancs. Songs (ed. 5) 84 Wreaths of fairy frost-work hung Where grew last summer's leaves.
d. purple wreath: (see purple a. C 2 c).
1864Grisebach 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. 1799E. 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.
1847C. Brontë J. Eyre iii, A certain brightly painted china plate, whose bird of paradise, nestling in a wreath of convolvuli and rosebuds, had [etc.]. 1890Young 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
1648Hexham ii, Een Wrongel van Pieren ofte Wormen, a Wreath of Wormes for bobbing.
III. 13. attrib. and Comb., as wreath hurdle, wreath line, wreath-offering, wreath part, wreath rail, wreath work; wreath-drifted, wreath maker, wreath-wise; wreath animalcule (see quot. and cf. peridinial a.); wreath shell = sense 3 b; wreath-wort, the early purple orchis, O. mascula.
1854A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 370 *Wreath-Animalcules (Peridiniidæ).
1832Motherwell Poet. Wks. 76 More dazzlingly white Than the *wreath-drifted snows.
1818Sporting Mag. II. 181 The making of *wreath hurdles is a profitable business.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 597 Draw a line, which will give the *wreath line formed by the nosings of the winders.
1881Instr. Census Clerks 55 Artificial Flower Maker:..Shell Flower Maker. *Wreath Maker.
a1835Mrs. Hemans Korner & Sister Poems (1875) 425 With his *wreath-offering silently to stand In the hush'd presence of the glorious dead.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 597 In preparing the string for the *wreath part, a cylinder should be made.
1820P. Nicholson Staircases, etc. 17 Getting a *wreath rail out of the least quantity of stuff.
1825W. Hamilton Hand-book 423 Turbo, the *wreath shell.
1845J. C. Mangan German Anthol. II. 105 Hand-with-hand, linked *wreathwise round, The virgins dance in order.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 384 The same person..hath contrived an Engine to turne *wreath work. 1730W. George in Mem. W. Stukeley (Surtees) III. 255 Another large partition, encompassed with plaited wreath-work.
1884W. Miller Plant-n. 148 Purple *Wreath-wort.
Hence ˈwreathage, wreaths collectively. rare—1.
1883W. Allingham in Athenæum July 79 Then one sees..In their hedgerow wreathage manifold Clustering. |