wreathedadj.
/riːðd/, U.S. /riðd/ (in sense 3 also)Brit. /riːθt/, U.S. /riθt/ 1. † c. Of a firearm: having a bore with spiral grooves; rifled. Obsolete.
a. Twisted into a circular shape; having a coiled or spiral form; twisted, contorted.
ΘΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [adjective] > disposed in or forming (a) coil(s)
twinedc1300
wounda1382
wreathenc1400
wrinkledc1403
wreathedc1425
whorlish1562
folded1570
writhen1584
upwound1590
entortilled1629
coiled1661
whirled1715
whirl-shaped1762
crinkum-crankum1766
convoluted1811
gyrated1822
rounded1845
vorticiform1849
looped1850
vorticose1870
convolute1874
gyrate1876
swirled1909
snake-spiral1922
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [adjective] > twisted spirally > fashioned by spiral twisting
wreathedc1425
writhed1552
wrapped1820
the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adjective] > of or relating to distortion > distorted
wrongwende?c1225
writhenc1475
thrawnc1494
tort1513
encrampised1523
wry1552
thraw?1553
contort1570
wried1576
writhed1578
turned1585
distort1588
tortured1603
wrested1609
contorted1622
distorted1635
twisted1830
wreathed1844
gnarled1851
squinched1899
contortioned1922
pretzelled1938
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 75 (MED) If he fynde þe fumes iwrethede..of greet fourme and in grete wrethis and wel nessh, it is tokenyng þat it is an hert chaseable.
1535 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 127 My ij wrethed rynges of gold.
1587 A. Day Longus's Daphnis & Chloe sig. A4v Yong rammes..with their wreathed hornes.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cxix. 22 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 195 From falshoods wreathed way, O saue me lord.
1608 B. Jonson Masque of Blacknesse in Characters Two Royall Masques Blackness ⁋1 Musique made out of wreathed shells.
1608 H. Plat Floraes Paradise Beautified 146 Winding the young stock about the stick..it will grow in a wreathed forme.
1665 G. Havers tr. P. della Valle Trav. E. India 114 [The] Diadem..might have been of wreath'd Linnen, or Gold, or other solid matter.
1743 J. Davidson tr. Virgil Æneid vii. 351 A chain of wreathed gold.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. v. 44 These stones..were either wreathed as snails, or bivalvular like cockles.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna i. x. 6 The Eagle..unremittingly assailed The wreathed Serpent.
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xx. 323 The short, and proudly wreathed lip.
1908 E. Fowler Between Trent & Ancholme 362 The fog at times lies wreathed, white and still.
2008 A. Ghosh Sea of Poppies (2009) viii. 208 He could already envision its spire, thrusting through the wreathed smoke of the cremation ghat.
b. Of a pillar or column: having a twisted or spiral shape; = writhed adj. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [adjective] > twisted spirally > specifically of columns or pillars
wreathed1624
writhed1679
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [adjective] > twisted
wreathed1624
writhed1679
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. 31 Wreathed, and Vined, and Figured Columnes, which our Author himselfe condemneth.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 127 Some of the Colomns curiously wreathed, others in spiral forme.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 596 Wreathed columns; such as are twisted in the form of a screw.
1999 G. Morello & L. B. Kanter Treasury St Francis of Assisi 173/1 The openings are supported by slender wreathed columns with Doric capitals.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > [adjective] > by type of bore
rifled1619
screwed1657
full bore1666
wreathed1681
smooth-bore1799
small-bore1833
unrifled1851
poly-grooved1858
smooth-bored1859
polygroove1863
cylinder-bored1881
1681 R. Cromwell Let. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) 13 96 The little gun..is not so propper for shott it being a wreathed barrell as for a single bullet.
d. Heraldry. Of an ordinary: depicted so as to resemble a twisted band; = wreathy adj. 1b. See wreath n. 1c.
ΚΠ
1722 A. Nisbet Syst. Heraldry I. x. 58 A Fess wreathed Azure and Gules, betwixt a Crescent in chief.
1909 A. C. Fox-Davies Compl. Guide Heraldry ix. 119 The arms of Waye of Devon are an additional example, being: Sable, two bars wreathed argent and gules.
1973 J. P. Brooke-Little Heraldic Alphabet 221 An ordinary can be shown ‘wreathed’ as is the fess in the arms of Carmichael.
e. Of (a section of) the handrail or stringboard of a staircase: curved. Cf. wreath n. 10.
Π
1796 Prices Carpenters Work 43 Circular string board, glued up to answer the wreathed rails, with bead on bottom edge... 9s. 6d.
1820 P. Nicholson Staircases & Handrails p. iv The geometrical construction of the wreathed part of the Rail.
1850 J. Jeays Orthogonal Syst. Hand-railing 13 It is the practice of some workmen to construct their wreathed string-boards without laying down a development of the steps.
2009 Bristol Post (Nexis) 15 Oct. 21 A particularly fine staircase with a wreathed handrail.
2. † a. Intertwined, interwoven; composed of intertwined or interwoven elements. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > intertwining or interweaving > [adjective] > intertwined or interwoven
writhenOE
twinedc1300
locked1488
wreathena1500
plait1529
implicatec1540
context?1541
twisted1548
weaved1552
wreathed?1552
texed1572
well-woven1578
woven1590
interlaced1593
entrailed1599
entest1608
implicit1608
folden1612
inextricate?1615
intertissueda1616
complicatea1626
enwreathed1631
interwoven1642
inwoven1667
intertwineda1680
plectilea1682
well-wove1690
implicated1761
osiered1820
inwrought1824
complected1828
impleached1829
internetted1849
enlaced1851
threaded1853
interknit1885
interwrought1895
pleached1896
interweaved1898
?1552 tr. M. Flacius Illyricus Wonderfull Newes Death of Paule sig. A.viv About his necke hong a chayne made of two wrethed Adders.
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 8 A banquet..vnder a wreathed arbor of Laurell, Iessemen, Holly, and Iuy.
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 4) 524 These chaines:..were they of cords, of wreathed trees, of iron, they might bee burst asunder.
1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 179 A Wreathed garland of deserved praise.
1817 W. Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum I. 1 Here St. Joseph..erected,..of wreathed twigs, the first Christian oratory in England.
1820 J. Keats Ode to Psyche in Lamia & Other Poems 120 A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain.
1907 W. Raymond Bk. Crafts & Char. vi. 48 Churches with walls very like the wreathed hurdles with which the shepherd still folds his flock.
b. Of the arms: crossed, folded; (of a person) having the arms folded. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > [adjective] > arm or hand > specific arm
wreathed1584
wide1707
kimboed1748
hyperabducted1945
1584 C. Robinson et al. Handefull Pleasant Delites (new ed.) sig. Dvii How oft within my wreathed arme, desired I to folde: Thy Christall corps, of whom I ioyed, more dearer than of golde.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 133 Longauile, Did..neuer lay his wreathed armes athwart His louing bosome, to keepe downe his hart. View more context for this quotation
1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) iii. iv, in Wks. I. 211 Another..walkes of melancholike, and stands wreath'd, As he were pinn'd vp to the arras, thus.
1640 T. Carew Poems 136 Which [hands] when today the Priest shall recombine, From the misterious holy touch such charmes Will flow, as shall unlock her wreathed armes.
1826 A. M. Porter Honor O'Hara II. vii. 206 Seeing William Mulcaster pacing the room, with wreathed arms, as if in serious thought, [etc.].
1975 Art Bull. 57 426/1 Hendrick Goltzius and Jan Porcellis portrayed fishermen with wreathed arms or with a hand hidden in the bosom.
3.
a. Adorned with a wreath or wreaths; wearing a wreath; garlanded. Also (and earliest) as the second element in compounds: adorned with a wreath of the specified kind or material.See also ivy-wreathed adj., laurel-wreathed adj., rose-wreathed adj., vine-wreathed adj., etc.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > floriculture and flower arranging > [adjective] > garlanded or wreathed
wreathed1597
wreathy1697
engarlanded1858
garlanded1862
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. vi. i. 91 At least would some good body of the rest, Set a Gold-pen on their bay-wreathed Crest.
?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses iv. 63 Their Riband-wreathed wiues, brought fruit and cakes.
1693 Congratulatory Addr. Right Honourable Sir W. Ashurst (single sheet) When to Wreath'd Heads we hearty Homage pay, 'Tis only when we Love where we Obey.
1805 R. Southey Madoc i. vii. 73 All wreathed and ribbanded, our youths and maids.
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 5 When from this wreathed tomb shall I awake!
1897 Daily News 30 June 6/2 The wreathed coffin was conveyed..to the burial ground.
1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xxi. 212 Brown heads and golden.., and pale muslins and flower-wreathed hats mingled in a tender rainbow.
1965 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 109 376/1 This wreathed, himation-clad deep bust shows Trajan in his extreme old age.
1997 Scotsman (Nexis) 5 Sept. 19 Unless you've seen London transformed into a series of wreathed and silent shrines, you can't understand quite how weird it is.
2010 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 21 Sept. A wreathed totem pole stood at the end of the runway.
b. Heraldry. Encircled with a twisted band or wreath.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > extra-scutal devices > [adjective] > wreathed
accolled1612
wreathed1663
wreathy1720
torced1892
tortilly1894
torsed-
1663 in J. Price & H. Llwyd's Descr. Wales 63 A Sarazens head erazed, proper, wreathed Or & A.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 473/2 A Flower de Lis Wreathed, or in the middle Wreathed.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 143/2 Heads are also blazoned wreathed or banded, as the case may be.
1860 London Rev. Apr. 181 The wreathed arms and the Latinized name of the owner..are stamped in gold on the sides.
2016 Morpeth (Northumberland) Herald (Nexis) 30 Oct. Its crest—a wreathed helmet with a lion holding a sword—was incorporated into Castle Morpeth's coat of arms.
4. Of a smile: (originally) formed by twisting or distorting the features; (in later use also) broad, beaming, intense (cf. note at wreathe v. 1d).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > [adjective] > distorted
writhen?a1425
girning1447
mowinga1529
writhed1568
mumping1594
antic1595
frowned1598
screwed1609
sour1611
wreathed1645
fluish1674
working1717
screwed-up1728
frownful1771
grimacing1804
quirked1931
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 31 Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles.
1784 W. Jones Enchanted Fruit 17 Inconstant fortune's wreathed smiles.
1851 Brit. & Foreign Medico-chirurg. Rev. 8 399 However pleasant it may be to enliven dull philosophy with ‘quips and quirks and wreathed smiles’.
1930 O. Nash Let. 19 Nov. in Loving Lett. (1990) 119 I've been horrid uppity all day, annoying everybody with my wreathed smiles and intolerable air of knowing a simply wonderful secret.
2000 H. Simpson Hey Yeah Right (2001) 25 All three faces broke into wreathed smiles and appreciative laughter.
ΘΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > corrugation > [adjective] > wrinkled or creased
rivelledlOE
hirpleda1400
runkleda1400
rimpleda1425
wrimpledc1430
crimpled1440
frumpledc1440
runkle?1440
ruscledc1440
crumple1523
wrinkled?1523
creased1545
pursy1552
shrivelled1565
wrinkly1573
crumpled1577
ruffed1578
scrimpledc1590
wrizzled1590
wimpled1599
rucked1600
puckered1606
cappard1608
wrinkleful1608
plighty1615
yfrouncta1643
puggered1653
caperated1657
wreathed1657
pursed1676
crinkly1750
runkly1772
wrinkling1791
ruckya1825
puckery1830
creasy1858
seamy1874
crinkle1886
kinkled1890
bumfled1943
1657 J. Beale Herefordshire Orchards 12 You shall find the better-tasted fruit to be more wrethed or wrinckled.
1719 tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Compl. Herbal I. 176/1 The Root is long, thick, lignous, wreathed, and of a black Colour.
1795 Asiatick Res. 4 298 Legume very long, slender, wreathed when ripe.
1853 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 10 291 Epidermis olive, minutely wreathed nearly over the whole disk.
6. As the second element in compounds: surrounded, encircled, or enshrouded with the specified substance, as in cloud-wreathed, smoke-wreathed, etc. Cf. wreathe v. 7a.
Π
1817 T. Clifford & A. Clifford Topogr. & Hist. Descr. Parish of Tixall 90 No stupendous mountain, rearing its insuperable, snow-wreathed summit above the clouds.
1854 F. I. Duberly Jrnl. 15 May in Mrs Duberly's War (2007) 9 Snow-capped and cloud-wreathed mountains.
1869 M. Twain Innocents Abroad (1922) I. xii. 99 Among fog-wreathed peaks and never-melting snows.
1999 J. Elliot Unexpected Light (2000) 8 I got to know my first Afghans in the smoke-wreathed alleys of the old city.
2009 Esquire Mar. 96/1 The brilliantly realised television drama..set in the vermouth-sodden, nicotine-wreathed Valhalla of New York's Madison Avenue advertising fraternity.
Compounds
C1. In the names of animals, with the sense ‘having markings resembling a wreath or coil’, (in the names of birds) ‘having a distinct line around the head’.Many of the names were introduced by John Latham (1740–1837) and are now rare.
Π
1785 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds III. i. 216 Wreathed Plover;..round the crown runs a list of white, encircling the head like a wreath.
?a1808 Universal Syst. Nat. Hist. XII. 426 The Wreathed Boa... Synonymes.—Boa contortrix, Gmel...Hog-nosed snake, Catesby.
1819 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI. 488 Wreathed Pluvian. Pluvianus coronatus,..[= Latham's] Wreathed Plover.
1823 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds VII. 140 Wreathed Warbler... From the eye round to the nape a white line, passing backwards, and surrounding it as a wreath at the back part.
1929 Discovery Rep. 1 582 Sterna vittata georgiae... The Wreathed Tern is a common resident round the shores of South Georgia.
1943 Sailing Direct. Antarctica (U.S. Navy Hydrogr. Office) i. 61/1 Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata). Sometimes called Wreathed Tern or Kingbird.
1996 IUCN Red List Threatened Animals 125/3 Xerarionta redimita Wreathed Cactus Snail.
C2.
wreathed hornbill n. a hornbill of southern and south-east Asia, Rhyticeros undulatus, having the uppermost part of the bill marked with ridges and grooves (cf. sense 5).
Π
1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. i. 358 Wreathed H [ornbill] ;..on the top of the upper mandible is an appendage..rounded at top, and divided into seven or eight segments, not unaptly resembling the rattle of a rattlesnake.
1890 J. A. Murray Avifauna Brit. India 494 Blyth's Wreathed Hornbill is found locally throughout British Burmah.
2017 G. W. H. Davison Birds Peninsular Malaysia & Singapore 64 Huge flocks of Wreathed Hornbills..have been seen, more than 2,000 in one evening flying over north Perak, in fleets of 100 or more.
Derivatives
Π
1656 T. Moore Explicite Declar. Testimony of Christ iii. viii. 248 This is affirmed, as a faithful saying, (in which there is no dissimulation, no equivocation, no wreathedness).
1683 in tr. Cicero 3 Bks. Nature of Gods ii. 172 (margin) Natural Qualities of Hardness and Wreathedness.
1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum at Contorteousness Wreathedness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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adj.c1425