/ˈaɪvɪz/. Forms: α. Old English ífig, ýfig, Middle English ivi, yve, yvi, yvy, Middle English–1500s ivye, Middle English–1600s ivie, 1500s yvie, ( ive), 1600s yvye, Middle English– ivy. β. Old English ífegn, Middle English iven, iwen, iwyn, 1500s yven, 1800s dialect ivin, ( hivin), ivvens. γ. 1800s dialect ivory, ivery, iv'ry.ivyn.
/ˈʌɪvi/, U.S. /ˈaɪvi//ˈaɪvɪz/. Forms: α. Old English ífig, ýfig, Middle English ivi, yve, yvi, yvy, Middle English–1500s ivye, Middle English–1600s ivie, 1500s yvie, ( ive), 1600s yvye, Middle English– ivy. β. Old English ífegn, Middle English iven, iwen, iwyn, 1500s yven, 1800s dialect ivin, ( hivin), ivvens. γ. 1800s dialect ivory, ivery, iv'ry. 1. † b. Used as a sign that wine was sold within; cf. ivy-garland n. at Compounds 4, and ivy-bush n. Obsolete.
a. A well-known climbing evergreen shrub ( Hedera Helix), indigenous to Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, having dark-green shining leaves, usually five-angled, and bearing umbels of greenish-yellow flowers, succeeded by dark berries; it is a favourite ornamental covering of walls, old buildings, ruins, etc. The plant was anciently sacred to Bacchus. barren, creeping, small ivy (formerly also earth-ivy, and ground-ivy n. 2): a small, creeping, flowerless variety growing on hedgebanks. black, English ivy: the common ivy, also termed H. nigra, from its black berries. Queensland ivy, an Australian species having pinnate leaves. variegated ivy, a variety having variegated leaves.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > ivy
ivya800
woodbinec875
ivy-tree1382
ivy-tod1579
ground-ivy1597
α.
β. a800 Corpus Gloss. 718 Hedera, ifegn.c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 644/26 Hec edera,..iwyn.a1450 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 277 Þan se þai a howse a lytyll þam fro Oure-growne wyt Iwen.1483 Cath. Angl. 199/1 An Iven, edera.1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. vi. 7 They were constrayned to weere garlandes of yven.1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Ivin, Ivy.1876–93 in north. dial. glossaries from Northumberland to Lincolnshire Ivin.1884 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) Ivvens, or Ivvy, ivy.γ. 1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Ivory, ivy.1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Ivery, Iv'ry, often used for Ivy; as ‘The ivery had grown thruff the roof’.1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia Ivory, ivy.1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, Beasts, & Fishes Norfolk Broadland 56. eOE Erfurt Gloss. 392 Hedera, ifeg.
a800 Leiden Gloss. 44 Hederam , ibaei.
c1000 in Cockayne Shrine 139/27 Weal se is mid ifige bewrigen.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 212 Eorð yfig..þysse wyrte þe man hederan nigran and oþrum naman eorð ifig nemneþ.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 27 On old stoc..was mid ivi al bi-growe.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvii. liii Oftyn Poetes were crowned with Iuye: in token of noble witte & scharpe, for the yuye is alwei grene.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. xlix. 387 The blacke Iuye hath harde wooddy branches.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 708 Creeping or barren Iuie is called..in English ground Iuie.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia v. 170 The poysoned weed is much in shape like our English Iuy.
1764 C. Churchill Gotham i. 14 The Ivy crawling o'er the hallow'd cell.
1814 L. Hunt Feast of Poets 155 And then an ivy, with a flowering shoot, Ran up the mast in rings.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lotos-eaters: Choric Song i, in Poems (new ed.) 111 Here are cool mosses deep, And thro' the moss the ivies creep.
1835 W. J. Hooker Brit. Flora I. 123 The Irish Ivy is much cultivated on account of the vastly larger size of its foliage, and its very rapid growth.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) vi. 55 Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old!
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the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house > tavern sign
lion?a1366
ale stake1396
ivy14..
sunc1400
tokenc1440
eagle1449
chequerc1460
wisp?1507
Saracen's head1510
ale-pole1523
bush1532
wine garland1533
ivy-garland1553
tavern-bush1553
lattice1575
ivy-bush1576
alebush1599
red lattice1604
elephanta1616
sagittarya1616
grate1622
wine-bush1638
popinjay1687
14.. Why I can't be a Nun 358 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 147 A fayre garlond of yve grene Whyche hangeth at a taverne dore, Hyt ys a false token as I wene, But yf there be wyne gode and sewer.
1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 183 What nedeth a garlande, whyche is made of ivye, Shew a tavern wynelesse, also thryve I.
1612 W. Parkes Curtaine-drawer 29 The Iuy is hung out almost in euery place, & open market, kept as vnder the allowance of authority.
c. U.S. = poison ivy n. (see sense 2).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > [noun] > poison ivy
poison-weed1624
poison vine1709
Toxicodendron1722
poison oak1739
poison ivy1782
ivy1788
mercury1792
1788 J. May Jrnl. 9 June (1873) (modernized text) 65 I have been clearing land for eight days, and now begin to feel the effects of poison—from ivy, doubtless.
1849 F. Parkman Calif. & Oregon Trail xiii. 205 In the morning Shaw found himself poisoned by ivy.
2. Applied, with distinctive addition, to various (usually climbing or creeping) plants of other genera. American ivy n. (or five-leaved ivy) Virginia creeper, Ampelopsis hederacea or quinquefolia. bindweed-leaved ivy n. the genus Menispermum, Moon-seed. Boston ivy n. (or Japanese ivy) Ampelopsis tricuspidata. Colosseum ivy n. (or Kenilworth ivy) Ivy-leaved Toad-flax (Miller Plant-n. 1884). German ivy n. Senecio mikanoides, a variety of Groundsel (Webster 1864); Yellow German ivy, S. scandens. Indian ivy n. Scindapsus pertusus ( Monstera deliciosa) and other species (Miller). Mexican ivy n. Cobæa scandens (Miller). poison ivy n. (also American poison ivy) Rhus Toxicodendron ( Treasury Bot. 1866). West Indian ivy n. Marcgravia umbellata (Miller). See also ground-ivy n.
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1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. C4 To see if perchaunce the sheepe was browsing on the sea Iuy.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 316 Ivy, Bindweed-leaved, Menispermum.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 53/2 Ampelopsis..hederacea, the Virginian Creeper or American Ivy.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 632/2 Ivy..German, a garden name for Senecio mikanoides.
1879 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Five-leaved Ivy, a common garden name for the Virginia creeper, Ampelopsis hederacea.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† ivy-crop n. Obsolete
ivy-bloom n.
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1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 56 The yellow bees in the ivy-bloom.
ivy-bud n.
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a1593 C. Marlowe Passionate Sheepheard in Englands Helicon (1600) sig. Aa.2 A belt of straw, and Iuie [1599 Yuye] buds.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > ivy > branch, leaf, berry, or juice
ivy-cropc1000
ivy-berryc1400
gum ivy?1550
ivy-bush1576
ivy-twine1597
ivy-bind1731
ivy-resin1753
ivy-gum1855
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 214 Ifig croppena on þam monðe gegaderod þe we hatað ianuarius.
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 298/22 Corimbus, ifigcrop.
ivy-crown n.
ΚΠ
a1747 E. Holdsworth Remarks & Diss. Virgil (1768) 26 The Ivy crown is mentioned frequently by the ancients, as worn by the poets in those days.
ivy-mace adj.
ΚΠ
1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. v. i. 53 Renowmed Aquine, now I..to thy hand yeeld vp the Iuye-mace, From crabbed Persius, and more smooth Horace.
ivy-shroud n.
ivy-stem n.
ΚΠ
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 17 Monstrous ivy-stems Claspt the gray walls with hairy-fibred arms.
ivy-tankard n.
ΚΠ
1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xvi. 192 And in a Basket sets on bread of Wheat, And in an Ivy Tankard Wine good store.
ivy-wood n.
ΚΠ
1621 S. Ward Happinesse of Pract. (1627) 9 Owles in Iuy-woods.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §3 Passing it thorow Ivy wood.
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xvii. 147 The iuywood and diuers others.
1896 ‘M. Field’ Attila ii. 36 The bowl of ivy-wood Our hero drinks from.
ivy-wreath n.
C2. Instrumental. † ivy-tapissed adj. Obsolete
ivy-bound adj.
ΚΠ
1862 W. Barnes Hwomely Rhymes I. 201 Avore the walls were ivy-bound.
ivy-circled adj.
ivy-clad adj.
ΚΠ
1875 W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 83 A small two-storied ivy-clad tower.
ivy-covered adj.
ΚΠ
1872 H. I. Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lake District (1879) 5 The ivy-covered house passed on the left is ‘The Knoll’.
ivy-crowned adj.
ΚΠ
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 31 Whom lovely Venus..To Ivy-crowned Bacchus bore.
ivy-fingered adj.
ΚΠ
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab ix. 117 Soothing notes Of ivy-fingered winds.
ivy-gnarled adj.
ΚΠ
1867 H. B. Stowe Knocking in Rel. Poems 14 Ivy-gnarled and weed-bejangled.
ivy-hung adj.
ΚΠ
1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. (1872) I. 58 Gray and ivy-hung antiquity.
ivy-mantled adj.
ΚΠ
1751 T. Gray Elegy iii. 5 Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r The mopeing owl does to the moon complain.
ivy-netted adj.
ΚΠ
1865 E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 87 The silvery music of the old bells in the ivy-netted tower.
ivy-ridden adj.
ΚΠ
1867 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 197 Never have I seen ruins so ruinous, so ivy-ridden.
ivy-sealed adj.
ΚΠ
1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxvi. 118 An Iuy-seeled Bower.
ΚΠ
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall ii. f. 111v Onely there remaine the Iuie-tapissed wals of the Keepe.
ivy-turned adj.
ΚΠ
1820 W. Tooke tr. Lucian Lucian of Samosata I. 314 The ivy-turned thyrsus in his hand.
ivy-twined adj.
ivy-walled adj.
ΚΠ
1842 I. Williams Baptistery I. ii. 192 In ivy-wallèd solitude.
ivy-wimpled adj.
ivy-wound adj.
ΚΠ
1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid Metamorphoses 309 The thyrsus ivy-wound.
ivy-wreathed adj.
C3. Similative.
ivy-twisted adj.
C4. Special combinations. Also ivy-bush n., ivy-leaf n., ivy-leaved adj., ivy-tod n., ivy-tree n.
ivy-bells n. the Ivy-leaved Bell-flower, Campanula hederacea (Britten & Holland).
ivy-bind n. a climbing ivy stem.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > ivy > branch, leaf, berry, or juice
ivy-cropc1000
ivy-berryc1400
gum ivy?1550
ivy-bush1576
ivy-twine1597
ivy-bind1731
ivy-resin1753
ivy-gum1855
1731 Magna Britannia VI. 232/2 [The lightning] ran down in the Form of an Ivy-bind searing the Tree.
ivy-bindweed n. Climbing Buckwheat, Polygonum Convolvulus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > climbing or creeping plants > [noun] > bindweed or convolvulus
woodbinec875
withwindc1000
bearbinda1325
bindweed1548
buckwheat1548
foalfoot1548
sea-cole1548
convolvulus1551
weedbind1551
soldanel1562
withweed1567
bindcorn1574
running buck1574
bind1575
ivy-bindweed1578
weedwind1578
windweed1578
withywind1578
nil1597
sea-bell1597
sea-bindweed1597
sea or Scottish scurvy-grass1597
sea-withwind1597
soldanella1597
ropeweed1598
bethwine1609
volubilis1664
Scotch scurvy-grassa1722
black bindweed1785
calystegia1880
sea convolvulus1921
bell-binder-
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. liii. 394 This kinde of Bindeweede is called..Windweede, or Iuybindweede.
1879 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Ivy-Bindweed, Polygonum Convolvulus.
ivy broom rape n. a species of Orobanche, with purple stem, parasitic upon ivy.
ivy-chickweed n. Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Veronica hederifolia (Britten & Holland).
ivy-dart n. the thyrsus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > Bacchus > staff or spear of
thyrsus1591
thyrse1603
ivy-darta1661
thyrsus-staff1844
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 134 For in Pierian caves he never sings, Nor with an ivy-dart divinely raves.
ivy-fern n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1865 P. H. Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 351 The curious Ivy-fern, Hemionitis palmata, whose five-angled leaves, grovelling on the ground, clothed with a bristling crop of red down [etc.].
ivy-garland n. a garland of ivy, formerly the sign of a house where wine was sold: cf. ivy-bush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house > tavern sign
lion?a1366
ale stake1396
ivy14..
sunc1400
tokenc1440
eagle1449
chequerc1460
wisp?1507
Saracen's head1510
ale-pole1523
bush1532
wine garland1533
ivy-garland1553
tavern-bush1553
lattice1575
ivy-bush1576
alebush1599
red lattice1604
elephanta1616
sagittarya1616
grate1622
wine-bush1638
popinjay1687
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. f. 93 By an Iuie garlande, we iudge there is wyne to sel.
ivy-geranium n. the procumbent Ivy-leaved Pelargonium.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > geranium and allied flowers > allied flowers
herb Roberta1300
stick pile?a1450
culverfootc1450
devil's needlea1500
crane's-bill1548
dove's-foot1548
geranium1548
shepherd's needle1562
bloodroot1578
Gratia Dei1578
sanguine root1578
pigeon's-foot1597
Roman cranesbill1648
robin1694
redshanka1722
musk1728
ragged Robert1734
pigeon-foot1736
rose geranium1773
mountain flowera1787
wood cranesbill1796
peppermint-scented geranium1823
stork's bill1824
wild geranium1840
musk geranium1845
pin grass1847
Robert1847
stinking crane's bill1857
mourning widow1866
pinweed1876
ivy-leaved pelargonium1887
ivy-geranium1894
regal1894
peppermint geranium1922
1894 Daily News 17 July 6/5 Drooping sprays of ivy geranium, with its beautiful pointed leaves of brightest, glossiest green.
ivy-girl n. an effigy of a girl formed of ivy: see quots., and cf. holly-boy n. at holly n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > effigies in Shrove-tide festivities
ivy-girl1736
holly-boy1779
1736 S. Pegge Alphabet of Kenticisms Holly-boys and Ivy-girls, in West Kent, figures in the form of a boy and girl, made one of holly, the other of ivy, upon a Shrove Tuesday, to make sport with.
1779 Gentleman's Mag. 49 137 The boys..in another part of the village, were assembled together and burning what they called an Ivy Girl, which they had stolen from the girls.
ivy grapevine n. (also ivy vine) a species of vine, Vitis indivisa (Miller Plant-n. 1884).
ΚΠ
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Ivy grape-vine.
ivy-gum n. the resinous juice which exudes from the ivy: cf. gum ivy n. at gum n.2 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > ivy > branch, leaf, berry, or juice
ivy-cropc1000
ivy-berryc1400
gum ivy?1550
ivy-bush1576
ivy-twine1597
ivy-bind1731
ivy-resin1753
ivy-gum1855
1855 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Ivy-gum.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. III. 103 In the south of Europe and north of Africa, an exudation is found on the old trunks of the Ivy, called ivy-gum.
ivy-like adj. like or resembling ivy.
ΚΠ
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. xcv. 681 Cymbalaria Italica Hederacea, the Italian Gondelo or Ivie like leafe.
1842 H. Rogers Ess. I. i. 10 Wit..so disproportionate, that it conceals in its ivy-like luxuriance the robust wisdom about which it coils itself.
ivy-owl n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > genus Strix > strix aluco (tawny owl)
jenny whooper1600
aluco1657
grey owl1673
ivy-owl1674
brown owl1678
tawny owl1766
wood-owl1809
hoot owl1885
1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 83 The common gray or Ivy-Owl.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 102 The common brown or Ivy-Owl.
ivy-resin n. = ivy-gum n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > ivy > branch, leaf, berry, or juice
ivy-cropc1000
ivy-berryc1400
gum ivy?1550
ivy-bush1576
ivy-twine1597
ivy-bind1731
ivy-resin1753
ivy-gum1855
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Ivy-Resin..is brought from Persia, and some other of the hot countries..It is said to be emollient and detergent, and to make a noble balsam for fresh wounds.
ivy-twine n. = ivy-bind n.
ΚΠ
1597 Bp. J. Hall Defiance to Enuy in Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. sig. A3v Nor the low bush feares climbing Yuy-twine.
ivy-vine n. the Virginia Creeper.
ΚΠ
1867 H. B. Stowe Knocking in Rel. Poems 12 The bolt is clogged and dusty; Many-fingered ivy-vine Seals it fast with twist and twine.
ivy-wort n. (a) Lindley's name for the family Araliaceæ, which includes the ivy and its congeners; (b) see quot. 1640.
ΚΠ
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum v. xcv. 682 We may call it in English eyther Iviewort or the Ivie like leafe.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 85/1 Araliaceæ (Araliads, Ivyworts), form a small natural order closely approaching umbellifers.
Derivatives
ˈivy v. (transitive) to cover with or as with ivy (cf. ivied adj.); in quot. 1843 figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [verb (transitive)] > cover with ivy
ivy1843
1843 J. R. Lowell Prometheus in Poems (1844) Earth with her twining memories ivies o'er Their holy sepulchres.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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