wattlen.1
/ˈwɒtl/, U.S. /ˈwɑd(ə)l/ I. Senses relating to interlaced rods or stakes.
1.
a. In plural and collective singular. Rods or stakes, interlaced with twigs or branches of trees, used to form fences and the walls and roofs of buildings. Also, rods and branches of trees collected for this purpose.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > for thatching
thacka900
wattlesc900
thatch1398
thackingc1440
litter1453
long straw1591
helm1669
thatching1671
straw1765
yelma1825
thatch-grass1884
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > wood-based materials > [noun] > material of interwoven branches
wattlesc900
wattling1336
frith-work1808
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) iii. xvi. 202 And micelne ad gesomnade on beamum and on raftrum and on wagum and on watelum [mistransl. of L. parietum virgeorum] and on ðeacon.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke v. 19 Astigon..onufa hus ðerh ða watla [c1000 Ags. Gosp. þurh þa watelas; L. per tegulas].
a1000 in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses ii. 489 Tegulis, watelum.
c1000 Ælfric Gloss. (Z.) ix. xxvi. 52/13 Teges, watul.
1382 in W. H. D. Longstaffe & J. Booth Halmota Prioratus Dunelmensis (1889) 175 Habebit meremium..et virg. et wattels, cabul., et ferramenta.
1454 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 150 j fothr' de palis et virgis et j fothr' del Wattylle.
1488–9 in J. Raine Charters Priory Finchale (1837) p. ccclxxxii Et in adquisitione wattyllis et cariagio straminis et wattyllis iiijs. xd.
1510 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 394 in Parl. Papers (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 Anny man to bring in wode, troffe, or vattill.
1547–8 Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 52 And the remanent of the said tenement..standand sufficiently in gret tymmer..and in kaboris, wattillis and stray, thak and devot, sobirly apperand watir ticht.
1563 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1567, 444/2 Colligere lie vatlis et fallyne tymmer de dicta silva pro reparatione et edificatione domorum.
1587 J. Hooker tr. Giraldus Cambrensis Vaticinall Hist. Conquest Ireland i. xiii. 12/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II And there they cast a trench, and builded a little castell or hold, with turffes and wattell.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. (1906) 374 These Fabrickes are advanced three or foure yardes high,..erected in a singular Frame, of smoake-torne straw..and Raine-dropping watles.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia iii. viii. 313 Having all the day before employed a great partie of men to the Wood..to fetch more wattle, to make Gabions.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. i. iii. 43 The Walls are either Mud, or Watle bedawbed over.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches vi. 218 Stretching a large tree across it [sc. the path]..and fastening it with thongs and wattles at either end.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. xx. 146 Layers of stiff clay, pressed down close on wattles of reed.
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. iv. i. 480 The earliest British churches were constructed of wattles.
1867 Ld. Tennyson Holy Grail 63 And there he built with wattles from the marsh A little lonely church in days of yore.
1868 H. H. Milman Ann. St. Paul's Cathedral ii. 21 Its growth..from enclosures of wattel and timber to stately buildings of stone.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xxiii. 223 The walls were of wattle and covered with moss.
b. wattle and daub (dab) n. interwoven twigs plastered with clay or mud, as a building material for huts, cottages, etc.; chiefly attributive. Also (rarely) daub and wattle, mud and wattle.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > wood-based materials > [noun] > material of interwoven branches > plastered with mud or clay
wattled work1712
wattle and daub (dab)1808
wattle-work1860
wattled daub1866
daub and wattle1883
mud and wattle1913
1808 T. Batchelor Gen. View Agric. County of Bedford 21 The cottages and barns..are built with wood frame work, and clay plaster upon a kind of hedge work of splints, which is called wattle and dab.
1836 Ross's Hobart Town Almanack & Van Diemen's Land Ann. 66 Wattle and daub. [Instructions for using the branches of the black or the green wattle (see sense 4 below) for this kind of construction.]
1852 W. Wickenden Hunchback's Chest 311 Strong wattle and daub walls.
1855 W. H. Howitt Holly-tree Inn: Landlord in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 26/1 Robinson..stood at the door of a considerable erection of wattle-and-dab.
1883 O. Schreiner Story Afr. Farm ii. iii His house was a little square daub-and-wattle building.
a1887 R. Jefferies Toilers of Field (1892) 183 One wall of the house..was only ‘wattle and daub’ (i.e., lath and plaster).
1891 R. Kipling City Dreadful Night 36 There are no houses here—nothing but acres and acres, it seems, of foul wattle-and-dab huts.
1901 Archaeol. Jrnl. (Instit.) Mar. 68 A light and simple erection of wattle-and-daub.
1913 Eng. Rev. Aug. 59 I saw the house, a mud and wattle rancho.
2. A hurdle. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hurdle
hurdlec725
flakec1330
grater1598
wattle1640
bara1642
tray1829
slat1883
flake-hurdle1890
1640 W. Somner Antiq. Canterbury 10 The Citizens after much suit to the Monks, prevailed with them..to sell them of their wood to make hurdles or wattles withall, for the defence of their City.
1681 J. Worlidge Dictionarium Rusticum in Systema Agriculturæ (ed. 3) Wattels also signify spleeted Gates or Hurdles.
1697 in Sussex Archaeol. Coll. (1853) 6 195 Two wagon Ropes three Rakes 00 04 00 Thirty wattelles 01 10 00.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 674 The flatted hurdle, or what in some districts is termed waddle, is much preferable to the close~rodded or wattled kind.
1822 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 5 Oct. 26 This hazle..furnishes rods wherewith to make fences; but its principal use is, to make wattles for the folding of sheep in the fields.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. vii. 164 The scent [in Hares-and-hounds] lies thick right across another meadow and into a ploughed field, where the pace begins to tell; then over a good wattle with a ditch on the other side.
1889 D. E. Hurst Horsham (ed. 2) Gloss. 270 Wattle, a hurdle of a particular kind, made by weaving in long thin stems of underwood.
3. A wand, rod, stick. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > in form of bar, pole, rod, etc.
stingc725
stakec893
sowelc900
tree971
rungOE
shaftc1000
staffc1000
stockc1000
poleOE
spritOE
luga1250
lever1297
stanga1300
perchc1300
raftc1330
sheltbeam1336
stower1371
palea1382
spar1388
spire1392
perk1396
ragged staff1397
peela1400
slot1399
plantc1400
heck-stower1401
sparkin1408
cammockc1425
sallow stakec1440
spoke1467
perk treec1480
yard1480
bode1483
spit1485
bolm1513
gada1535
ruttock1542
stob1550
blade1558
wattle1570
bamboo1598
loggat1600
barling1611
sparret1632
picket1687
tringle1706
sprund1736
lug-pole1773
polting lug1789
baton1801
stuckin1809
rack-pin1821
picket-pin1844
I-iron1874
pricker1875
stag1881
podger1888
window pole1888
verge1897
sallow pole1898
lat1899
swizzle-stick1962
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Civv/1 A Wattle, rod, vibex.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. x. 160 I..cut down several Oak Wattles about the Thickness of a Walking-staff, and some larger Pieces. [To build a canoe.]
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 166 Nae whip nor spur, but just a wattle O' saugh or hazle.
1831 S. Lover Paddy the Piper in Legends & Stories Ireland 156 I cut a brave long wattle, that I might dhrive the man-ather iv a thief, as she was, without bein' near her at all at all.
1843 J. Ballantine Wee Raggit Laddie vi Nae jockey's whup, nor drover's wattle Can frighten thee.
a1849 J. Keegan Legends & Poems (1907) 395 An old man..tottered with the aid of a long iron-shod wattle which he carried in his withered hand, to the door of a snug-looking public house.
1856 P. Kennedy Banks of Boro (1867) xli. 337 Pat's wattle descended on the upper horizontal line of Charley's thigh.
II. Senses relating to the tree.
4.
a. Australian. [Originally wattle-tree, from the use of the long pliant branches for making wattled fences or wattle-and-daub buildings.] The common name in Australia for indigenous trees of the genus Acacia. Also with defining word indicating the particular species, as broad-leaved wattle n., golden wattle n., green wattle n. A. pycnantha., silver wattle n. A. dealbata; but the application of these (and other similar terms) varies according to locality.black wattle: see the first element.The bark of most of these trees is valuable for use in tanning, and they exude a gum resembling gum arabic. The golden yellow flowers are celebrated for their beauty and fragrance.The acacias were included in the Linnean genus Mimosa. Hence in popular use mimosa was long current as a synonym of wattle, and is still sometimes so used, at least in England. See mimosa n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun]
acacia1542
babul1696
marblewood1753
black wattle1802
popinac1809
wattlec1810
wattle-treec1810
giraffe tree1815
haakdoring1822
hookthorn1822
kameeldoorn1822
camel-thorn1824
catechu-tree1829
silver wattle1832
blackthorn1833
thorny acacia1834
boobyalla1835
seyal1844
mulga1848
thorn-wood1850
hackthorn1857
mimosa1857
poison tree1857
Port Jackson1857
talha1857
golden wattle1859
whitethorn acacia1860
buffalo thorn1866
nelia1867
siris1874
cassie1876
couba1878
needlebush1884
sallow wattle1884
sally1884
giddea1885
prickly Moses1887
yarran1888
opopanax tree1889
wait-a-while1889
fever tree1893
giraffe acacia1896
stay-a-while1898
brigalow1901
wirra1904
cootamundra1909
Sydney golden wattle1909
witchetty bush1911
rooikrans1917
jam-tree1934
whistling thorn1949
blackthorn1966
c1810 [see wattle-tree n. at Compounds 3a].
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales I. xii. 201 The acacias are the common wattles of this colony, their bark affording excellent tan.
1832 J. Bischoff Sketch Hist. Van Diemen's Land II. 23 The black and silver wattle..are trees used in housework and furniture.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn xxiii Fringed with black wattle and light~wood.
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. G. Hamlyn xliii The sarsaparilla still hung in scant purple tufts on the golden wattle.
1863 Technologist 3 5 The gum of the black wattle (Acacia mollissima, Willd.)..is very inferior to it [sc. that of the silver wattle].
1888 Candish Whispering Voices 45 And the wattle's yellow bloom Fills pure gales with rich perfume.
b. The flower of the wattle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] > flower or bark
wattle1867
wattle-bloom1890
wattle1893
wattle-blossom1894
wattle-flower1900
1867 A. G. Middleton Earnest 132 The maidens were with golden wattles crowned.
c. = wattle-bark n. at Compounds 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] > flower or bark
wattle1867
wattle-bloom1890
wattle1893
wattle-blossom1894
wattle-flower1900
1893 Advt. in E. E. Morris Austral Eng. at Wattle-bark Bark... Bundled Black Wattle, superior, £5 to £6 per ton;..chopped Black Wattle, £5 to £6. 5s. per ton.
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Wattle,..5...b. wattle bark.
Compounds
C1. (In sense 1.)
a. General attributive.
wattle-canoe n.
ΚΠ
1893 Sir W. W. Hunter in F. H. Skrine Life Sir W. W. Hunter (1901) 424 In the bay, the fishermen use the wattle-canoes, or curraghs, which their ancestors used at the time of the Roman invasion.
wattle-gate n.
ΚΠ
1759 Universal Chron. 3–10 Feb. 45/3 The person who committed the robbery, by the help of a short ladder artfully spliced to a Wattle-gate, set against a closet window, took out a pane of glass, [etc.].
wattle-wall n.
ΚΠ
1886 Athenæum 24 Apr. 556/3 These were generally huts built of logs or with wattle-walls.
wattle-work n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > wood-based materials > [noun] > material of interwoven branches > plastered with mud or clay
wattled work1712
wattle and daub (dab)1808
wattle-work1860
wattled daub1866
daub and wattle1883
mud and wattle1913
1860 H. Mayhew Upper Rhine vi. 427 A city built out in the water, and surrounded with a thick wattle~work of piles.
1878 C. F. Keary Dawn of Hist. ii. 30 The huts were made of wattle-work.
1900 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Dartmoor 42 The Britons had brought with them their great aptitude for wattle-work.
b. † wattle-silver n. Obsolete some kind of feudal impost.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > payment or service to feudal superior > [noun] > other customary or feudal dues
land-cheapc848
manredlOE
horngeldc1170
tithing penny1192
averpenny1253
wattle-silver1263
faldfee?a1300
filstinga1300
horn-pennyc1320
common finea1325
wrongeld1340
yule-waitingc1380
lark silver1382
carriagec1400
week-silver1430
aida1475
average1489
castle-boon15..
winage1523
casualty?1529
fry money1530
casualityc1568
white hart silver1594
hornage1611
issues of homage1646
lef-silver1660
frith-silver1669
cert-money1670
aver-silver1847
socage1859
1263 Inquisition Post Mortem (P.R.O.: C 132/29/1) m. 13 Et est ibidem Watelseluer de Folkst. [`sc. Folkestone, Kent] per annum v s.
1271 Inquisition Post Mortem (P.R.O.: C 132/40/7) m. 6 Pertinet ad dictum manerium [sc. Folkestone] quedam consuetudo que vocatur Mortonefar'..quedam consuetudo que vocatur Watelseluer..quedam consuetudo que vocatur Wodelode [etc.].
1484 Anc. Deed 24 Dec. (P.R.O.) D. 1102 Withe certene Custume siluer to the foresaide Maner perteynyng callid Revesiluer Watel~siluer and Werkesiluer of the Tenauntez of Charletone [near Steyning, Sussex].
wattle-wood n. Caribbean (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > of South America or West Indies
sweetwood1607
mastic1657
acajou1666
bastard locust tree1670
bastard locust tree1670
alligator wood1696
muskwood1696
lancewood1697
rodwood1716
cog-wood1725
soapwood1733
down tree?1740
pigeon plum1743
break-axe tree1756
horse-wood1756
loblolly whitewood1756
Spanish elm1756
trumpet-tree1756
ahuehuete1778
ocote1787
locust tree1795
Madeira wood1796
peroba1813
roble1814
louro1816
cecropia1824
purple heart1825
wallaba1825
trumpet-wood1836
gumbo-limbo1837
poui1838
quebracho1839
snake-wood1843
yacca1843
horseflesh wood1851
necklace tree1858
Honduras rosewood1860
turanira1862
softwood1864
wattle-wood1864
balsa tree1866
primavera1871
rauli1874
lemon-wood1879
wheel-tree1882
Spanish stopper1883
gurgeon-stopper1884
pinkwood-tree1884
stopper1884
sloth-tree1885
imbaubaa1893
Spanish cedar1907
amarant1909
Parana pine1916
imbuya1919
mastic-bully1920
banak1921
timbo1924
becuiba1934
1864 A. H. R. Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Islands 788 Wattle-wood, Lætia Thamnia.
C2. (In sense 3.)
wattle-boy n. Anglo-Irish (see quot. 1832).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > using pike
gildena1450
pickman1547
pike1557
pikeman1566
piker1590
piquier1596
morris-pike1599
peakman1668
rapparee1690
pikanier1816
wattle-boy1832
1832 J. Barrington Personal Sketches Own Times III. 280 His reverence..was instantly recognised by one of the wattle-boys, as the pikemen were then called.
wattle-race n. U.S. a Western form of ‘running the gauntlet’ (cf. gantlope n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [noun] > running the gauntlet
loupegarth1637
gantlope1646
wattle-race1839
1839 Congress. Globe Jan. App. 104/2 It would have been like the wattle races I have seen run in the West; he that ran the fastest received the fewest stripes.
C3. (In sense 4.)
a. General attributive.
wattle-bark n.
ΚΠ
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxiii. 114 The various wattle-barks are used for tan.
1852 C. Morfit Arts of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing 94 The leather tanned with wattle bark is of excellent quality, but highly coloured.
wattle-bloom n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] > flower or bark
wattle1867
wattle-bloom1890
wattle1893
wattle-blossom1894
wattle-flower1900
1890 A. Sutherland Short Poems 84 Here, by the wattle bloom silently laid, Life seems like a rapturous dream.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 17 This for the waxen Heath, and that for the Wattle-bloom.
wattle-blossom n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] > flower or bark
wattle1867
wattle-bloom1890
wattle1893
wattle-blossom1894
wattle-flower1900
1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 62 The honey was coming from the sack as clear as amber and smelling of wattle-blossom.
wattle-bough n.
ΚΠ
1855 W. H. Howitt Holly-tree Inn: Landlord in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 29/2 Breaking off a small wattle-bough to whisk the flies from his face.
wattle-bush n.
ΚΠ
1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. xii. 381 A dense scrub of burnt wattle-bushes, about the height of hop-poles.
wattle-cluster n.
ΚΠ
1889 C. A. Sherard Daughter of South 23 Past the plundered wattle-cluster, Bathed no longer in the lustre, Of its golden rain.
wattle-extract n.
ΚΠ
1955 Times 30 June 18/2 The price of South African wattle extract remained the same during 1954 as it was during 1953 and 1952.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. ix. 141 The main source of wattle extract is the Acacia mollissima, or Black Wattle.
wattle-flower n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] > flower or bark
wattle1867
wattle-bloom1890
wattle1893
wattle-blossom1894
wattle-flower1900
1900 Daily News 9 Oct. 3/1 Something dainty, like the scent of the wattle flower.
wattle-gloom n.
ΚΠ
1867 Goodrich Angel-Beckoned 9 Where the wattle-glooms abound A little way below.
wattle-gum n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other vegetable materials > plant resin > [noun] > gum (resin) > specific
myrrheOE
balsamc1000
galbanec1000
draganta1300
sandragon1334
gum arabica1350
storaxa1382
galbanum1382
asafœtidaa1398
cinnabara1398
guttaa1398
frankincensea1400
labdanuma1400
opopanaxa1400
gum-arabicc1400
sarcocolc1400
ammoniacc1420
gristle?1537
ladanum1551
dragon's blood1555
benzoin1558
styrax1558
tragacanth1558
gum tragacanth1562
amber1565
anime1577
laser1578
benjamin1580
sarcocolla1584
bdellium1585
sagapenum1597
liquidambar1598
red gum1614
gamboge1615
laudanum1616
gum ammoniac1627
male incense1647
sandarac1655
flesh-glue1659
adragant1696
dammar1698
sagapen1712
gum-dragon1718
courbaril1753
gum-senegal1760
Jew's frankincense1760
guggul1813
angico1821
gum-kino1830
butea gum1832
piney varnish1832
Kuteera gum1838
acaroid1839
bumbo1839
thus1842
gum-juniper1844
piney dammar1846
acacine1855
mochras1856
talha1857
copalm balsam1858
gum benjamin1859
wattle-gum1863
Senegal gum1867
Suakin1874
Barbary gum1875
oliva1882
ledon1885
jatoba1890
mimosa gum1890
xylan1894
gum accroides1909
karaya1916
1863 Technologist 3 4 Wattle Gum, the gum of the Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata, Lindl.).
1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons lii ‘Well! if this don't bang wattle gum’, began Gerty.
wattle-scrub n.
ΚΠ
1859 H. Kingsley Recoll. Geoffry Hamlyn II. xi. 211 They were passing through a narrow way in a wattle scrub.
wattle-tree n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun]
acacia1542
babul1696
marblewood1753
black wattle1802
popinac1809
wattlec1810
wattle-treec1810
giraffe tree1815
haakdoring1822
hookthorn1822
kameeldoorn1822
camel-thorn1824
catechu-tree1829
silver wattle1832
blackthorn1833
thorny acacia1834
boobyalla1835
seyal1844
mulga1848
thorn-wood1850
hackthorn1857
mimosa1857
poison tree1857
Port Jackson1857
talha1857
golden wattle1859
whitethorn acacia1860
buffalo thorn1866
nelia1867
siris1874
cassie1876
couba1878
needlebush1884
sallow wattle1884
sally1884
giddea1885
prickly Moses1887
yarran1888
opopanax tree1889
wait-a-while1889
fever tree1893
giraffe acacia1896
stay-a-while1898
brigalow1901
wirra1904
cootamundra1909
Sydney golden wattle1909
witchetty bush1911
rooikrans1917
jam-tree1934
whistling thorn1949
blackthorn1966
c1810 in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1827) 15 328 One of my specimens..I shot in a green wattle-tree close to Government House.
1835 J. Batman Jrnl. in K. Cornwallis Panorama New World (1859) I. App. i. 402 We observed on a wattle tree..scratches or marks of figures, representing blacks in the act of fighting.
1890 Argus (Melbourne) 10 June 5/2 The tender..for the right to strip the wattle trees growing on the upper portion of the You Yangs.
b.
wattle-gold n. poetic the golden-coloured flowers of the wattle.
ΚΠ
1870 A. L. Gordon Bush Ballads Ded. 41 In the Spring, when the wattle gold trembles, 'Twixt shadow and shine.
1883 ‘Keighley’ Who are You? 54 My wealth has gone like the wattle gold You bound one day on my childish brow.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
wattlen.2
/ˈwɒtl/, U.S. /ˈwɑd(ə)l/ 1.
a. A fleshy lobe (usually bright-coloured) pendent from the head or neck of certain birds, as the domestic fowl, the turkey, the guinea fowl, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > neck or throat > appendage or pouch on
wattle1513
gill1596
rattles1611
gorget1703
pouch1774
parapatagium1887
palea1890
1513 in S. Glover Hist. County of Derby (1829) I. App. 61 John Curson..bayryth a Cokatrice displayd, goulls with a hed in hys tayll, hys fette and hys wattelles assur.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 158 Cockes.., theyr wattelles oryent.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 166v Ginny Cocks, & Turky Cocks..haue no Coames, but only Wattles.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Barbe La barbe d'vn coq, a Cockes rattles, or waddles.
1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme ii. xi. §2 Nor are his [sc. the cock's] Comb and his Wattles in vain, for they are an Ornament becoming his Martial Spirit.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Wattles,..Also the Gills of a Cock, or the red Flesh that hangs under a Turkey's Neck.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Pigeon The Leghorn is a Sort of Runt, only distinguished by a little Wattle over his Nostril.
1768 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) I. ii. 212 Their combs and wattles purple and yellow.
1781 T. Pennant Genera of Birds (new ed.) 9 On each side of the base of the bill, a red, thin fleshy membrane, or Wattle, of a round form.
1790 J. White Jrnl. Voy. New S. Wales 144 [The Wattled Bee-eater] Under the eye, on each side, is a kind of wattle, of an orange colour.
1812 G. Crabbe Tales i. 18 From red to blue the [turkey's] pendant wattles turn.
1852 J. Baily Fowls 38 The game cock is of bold carriage;..his face and wattle a beautiful red color.
1854 Poultry Chron. 2 90 Cocks. Bright red comb, wattle and face.
1867 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries (1872) iii. 45 The only species of guinea-fowl that I have seen in Africa is that with the blue comb and wattles.
b. transferred. (Cf. gill n.1 2a.)
ΚΠ
1910 ‘Q’ Lady Good-for-nothing i. xi. 121 Once, it seemed to me, I detected the wattles of your worthy fellow-magistrate. He ought not to strain that neck; you should warn him of the danger.
c. slang. (See quots.) ? Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [noun]
earOE
listc1380
sousea1658
concha1683
auricula1691
wattle1699
listener1821
conch1831
earhole1843
tab1866
auricle1874
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Wattles, Ears.
1848 Sinks of London laid Open 129 Wattles, the ears.
2.
a. A flap of skin pendent from the throat or neck of some swine.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > [noun] > group Suiformes (hippos and pigs) > family Suidae (swine) > parts of
wattle1570
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Civv/1 Ye Wattle of a hog, neuus.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Goitrons, Waddles, or wattles; the two little and long excrescences, which hang, teat-like, at either side of the throat of some hogs.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Gouytrouz, Swines wadles.
1879 J. Wrightson Swine in Cassell's Techn. Educator IV. 351/2 The ‘wattles’ or skinny appendages situated upon either side and below the cheek.
b. A similar excrescence on the jaws of sheep or goats. See also quot. 1725 (probably a mis-use).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Caprinae (goat) > [noun] > (miscellaneous) parts of
goat's beard1440
wattle1725
fairney-cloots1822
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > body and parts of > (parts of) jaw or neck
fix-faxc1460
wattle1725
scrag1842
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Goat The Buck or the He-goat ought to have a large Body, thick Legs [etc.],..his Ears should be long and hanging down, and his Chin cover'd with a long Beard, or his Jaws rather have two Wattles or Tufts like a Beard.
1842 J. Bischoff Comprehensive Hist. Woollen Manuf. II. 330 Four-horned sheep are numerous in several parts, and a few have six horns; their forehead is convex, and there are wattles under the throat.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany vi. 81 There were some brown goats, too, with white eyebrows, and wattles hanging down at each side of their necks.
3. A fleshy appendage hanging from the mouths of some fishes; a barb.
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the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > barbel
beard?1527
barbel1601
wattle1655
barb1688
cirrus1753
barbule1848
1655 I. Walton Compl. Angler (ed. 2) xviii. 321 This Loach is of the shape of the Eele: he has a beard or wattels like a Barbel.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. vii. 240 [A fish] having two small Cirri or wattles issuing out of the nose near the mouth.
1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes I. 321 The Barbel is said to have been so called from the barbs or wattles attached about its mouth.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling i. 38 The barbs or wattles that depend from the sides of the mouth.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† wattle-faced adj. Obsolete (In sense 2.)† wattle-jawed adj. Obsolete
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the world > life > the body > skin > fold of skin > [adjective] > at throat
dewlappedc1420
wattle-faceda1627
wattle-jawed1630
throaty1778
a1627 T. Middleton Mayor of Quinborough (1661) iii. iii. 41 I scorn thee, Thou wattle-fac'd sing'd Pig.
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the world > life > the body > skin > fold of skin > [adjective] > at throat
dewlappedc1420
wattle-faceda1627
wattle-jawed1630
throaty1778
1630 J. Taylor Great Eater of Kent in Wks. i. 147/2 Hee is wattle-iawde, and his eyes are sunke inwarde.
C2.
wattle-bird n. (a) = wattle-crow n.; (b) the wattled or warty-faced bee-eater of Australia, Anthochæra carunculata and A. inauris.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Meliphagidae (honey-eater) > genus Anthochaera (wattle-bird)
wattle-bird1773
wattle honey-eater1862
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > [noun] > family Callaeidae > callaeas cinerea (kokako)
wattle-bird1773
wattle-crow1837
jack bird1866
kokako1873
bluegill1874
1773 J. Cook Jrnl. 25 Feb. (1969) III. ii. 806 Another sort rather smaller is black with a brown back & wings and two small gills under the root of the Bill which we call'd the small wattle Bird.
1859–62 J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. I. 314 The Long-eared Wattle-bird (Anthochæra inauris).
1859–62 J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. I. 315 The Short-eared Wattle-bird (Anthochæra carunculata)... The Brush Wattle-bird (Anthochæra mellivora)... The Lunulated Wattle-bird (A. lunulata).
1871 Bracken Behind Tomb 79 The wattle-bird sings in the leafy plantation.
wattle-crow n. any bird of the genus Glaucopis ( G. cinerea and G. wilsoni), inhabiting New Zealand.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > [noun] > family Callaeidae > callaeas cinerea (kokako)
wattle-bird1773
wattle-crow1837
jack bird1866
kokako1873
bluegill1874
1837 W. Swainson On Nat. Hist. & Classif. Birds II. 265 Subfam. Glaucopinæ. Wattle Crows.
wattle honey-eater n. = wattle-bird n. (b).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Meliphagidae (honey-eater) > genus Anthochaera (wattle-bird)
wattle-bird1773
wattle honey-eater1862
1862 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) II. 222 The Yellow Wattle Honey-eater (Anthochæra inauris).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† wattlen.3
Orkney and Shetland. Obsolete.
Originally, the obligation, imposed on landed proprietors in Orkney and Shetland, of giving entertainment to the Foud on his annual journey through the islands for the administration of justice; in later times, a tax for which this obligation was commuted.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > local or municipal taxes or dues > [noun] > other local or municipal dues or taxes > in specific parts of country
nutsilver1311
nut pennies1472
wattle1477
scot1666
scat tax1868
1477 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 281/1 Cum universis liberatibus,..ad dictas terras..spectantibus, unacum le Wrak, Wattell, Waithe et Hasewaith.
1503 in A. Peterkin Rentals Earldom & Bishoprick of Orkney (1820) i. 25 Summa de Wattill of the Ile j last in thre thridis viz cost flesche & fat guid. And the commonis ar all accordit to pay the tua in wattill & the thrid in flesche.
1587 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 468/1 Reddendo..105 doleras argenteas pro lie wattill.
1588 Exchequer Rolls Scot. X. 391 Selling..1000 cunnyng skynnis, 167 packis vedmell, 105 doleris for vattill, 120 angel nobillis for toill.
1592 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1610 118/1 Payand..to me..the yeir maillis, skatt, wattell and dewties contenit in our rentall.
1595 in A. Peterkin Rentals Earldom & Bishoprick of Orkney (1820) ii. 83 Thomas Sinclair pays yearly furth of his Wattle of the Bailyerie of Sanday 12 meils bear.
1605 Shetland Rental in D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. (1887) 270 Rentall of the wattill as it was in anno 1605... Ska, ij nychtis wattill. Trowoilie & Sandoill, ij nychtis wattill.
1610 Rec. Earldom Orkney (S.H.S.) 185 His awin proper land and heretage haldin frielie of the king for payment of scat and wattell and of the teynd therof to the kirk.
1628 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. New Ser. 7 231 Easter Quarff, 1 nyghtis wattill. Summa [for Burray] 4 nyghtis wattill and 6 merkis.
a1760 T. Gifford Hist. Descr. Zetland (1786) v. 43 To grant charters to the heritors..holding few of the crown for payment of an annual reddendo, formerly paid, called the Seat and Watle.
1821 W. Scott Pirate II. v. 101 Is it not enough that we must pay scat and wattle, which were all the public dues under our old Norse government; but must they come over us with king's dues and customs besides?
1840 New Statist. Acc. Shetland (1845) 63 The wattle was a tax imposed on every family paid in barley to the foud or bailie.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
wattlev.
/ˈwɒtl/, U.S. /ˈwɑd(ə)l/ 1.
a. transitive. To construct (a building, wall, fence, arbour) of rods, posts, or laths interlaced with twigs or flexible branches. Also rarely with up.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with other materials > build or construct with other materials [verb (transitive)] > construct of wattle-work
wattle1377
hurdle1598
raddle1719
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xix. 323 And there-with Grace bigan to make a good foundement, And watteled [v.rr. watelide, watled(e] it and walled it with his peynes and his passioun.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Wattle a house, cratio, iui, ire, whyche is a maner not vsed but where thacked houses be.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Concratitius..paries..walles wattled with roddes as they vse in the countrey.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxvii. iii. 627 To build..cotages and sheds... These were most of them made of hurdles and bourds, some watteled and wound with reedes [L. alia arundine texta].
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 74 For the meere barbarous Irish either sleepe under the canopy of heaven, or in cabbines watled, and covered with turfe.
1627 in Sir. J. H. Ramsay Bamff Charters (1915) 212 Bindis..him.. to caber wattell and theik with thak..the hall biggit be him.
1707–21 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husb. I. 112 A Hedge wattled standing under a Bog that was five or six Foot above it.
1791 W. Gilpin Remarks Forest Scenery II. 113 He fixes next on some spreading tree, round the bole of which he wattles a slight circular fence of the dimensions he wants.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 24 The arbour he once wattled up is broke.
1832 H. Martineau Demerara i. 12 The walls were merely wattled and smeared with plaster.
1867 C. H. Pearson Hist. Eng. I. 16 The villages were circles of huts hollowed out of the hills or heath, to save wall building, the sides wattled and the roofs thatched.
b. To construct (a sheepfold) with hurdles.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > rear sheep or wool [verb (transitive)] > construct a fold with hurdles
wattle1789
1789 C. Smith Ethelinde IV. viii. 170 The shepherd..contented himself with staring at them a moment, and then went on with wattling his fold.
1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 189 Shepherds have wattled pens about.
2. To interlace (boughs, twigs, osiers, etc.) so as to form wattle-work.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with other materials > build or construct with other materials [verb (transitive)] > construct of wattle-work > interlace (twigs, etc.) to form wattle-work
wattle1486
1486 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 242 Osyars..to wattyll' betwix piles of þe same Brigges.
1563 T. Hill Arte Gardening (1593) 7 The Romans vsed to..fence their gardens with stakes and laths, set very thick in order, and with small rods watled in together.
1683 Britanniæ Speculum 121 A Temple or Church..the Walls whereof were on all sides made of Rods, watled or interwoven.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xx. 539 The sides and top of the House are filled up with Boughs coursely watled between the poles.
1793 Trans. Soc. Arts 11 296 Fixing stakes..and wattling straw-bands between them.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 110 Pl. xxxiii The dead materials are wattled in between strong stakes.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §889 The walls..are frames filled in with studwork, into which branches of furze are thickly wattled.
1855 W. H. Howitt Holly-tree Inn: Landlord in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 26/1 A building of boughs wattled on stakes, and dabbed over with mud.
1859 G. Rawlinson tr. Herodotus Hist. III. iv. cxc. 169 The dwellings of these people are made of the stems of the asphodel, and of rushes, wattled together.
1871 W. B. Lord & T. Baines Shifts Camp Life vi. 382 Rattans, osiers, twigs, reeds, or grass are then wattled in in the manner shown in the sketch.
1884 Weekly London Times 12 Sept. 18 A framework of oak beams, with mortise holes cut to receive cross beams, through which hazel and birch boughs have been closely wattled.
3. To bind together (posts, laths, etc.) with interlaced osiers, twigs, or flexible branches. Also with across.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > bind or tie [verb (transitive)] > bind > bind up or together > with flexible branches
wattle1602
twig1688
yedder1818
withe1836
1602 Ld. Mountjoy Let. in F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 213 Staked on both sides with pallisades watled.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 428 These people make but small low Houses. The sides..are made of small posts, watled with boughs.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. ii. 18 We came to a long kind of Building, made of Timber, stuck in the Ground, and wattled a-cross.
1775 S. Johnson Journey W. Islands 76 The part in which we dined and slept was lined with turf and wattled with twigs, which kept the earth from falling.
1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 294 The fence was..formed of strong stakes of birch-wood, wattled with smaller branches of the same.
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold v. i. 131 I have seen The trenches dug, the palisades uprear'd And wattled thick with ash and willow-wands.
1882 R. Jefferies Bevis II. 268 He proposed to..extend a railing all round and wattle this with willows.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xxiii. 223 The trunks of several trees had been wattled across, the intervals strengthened with stakes, and the ground behind this barricade levelled up with earth.
4. To cover or surround with wattle-work. Also with about.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with other materials > build or construct with other materials [verb (transitive)] > construct of wattle-work > cover with wattle-work
wattle1542
1542 T. Elyot Bibliotheca Cratio,..to couer with grates, to wattil.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. iii. xii. f. 111v, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Our hiues are made commonly of Rye straw, and wadled about with bramble quarters.
1615 G. Markham Countrey Contentments i. 14 Which seats [for hounds] would bee either boorded, or watled with stakes and small wands on the sides to hold vp the earth from falling.
1629 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Eight Bks. Peloponnesian Warre ii. 122 They built a Frame of Timber, and watled it about on either side, to serue instead of Walles, to keepe the Earth from falling too much away.
5. To fold (sheep). dialect.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > rear sheep or wool [verb (transitive)] > fold
foldc1440
stuff1567
sheepfold1610
enfold?1611
cot1804
wattle1908
1908 Academy 27 June 920/2 This garden hears the sheep~bells of the flock That browses, wattled, on its further strand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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