wreathyadj.
/ˈriːθi/, U.S. /ˈriθi/ 1.
a. Esp. of smoke, clouds, mist, etc.: characterized by twisting, curling, or coiling.
ΘΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [adjective]
rollingc1400
whorling1578
wreathing1584
twininga1593
wreathy1644
volvulous1657
coiling1718
vining1806
swirling1807
convolutionary1903
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xxiii. 203 A vast multitude of seuerall little ioyntes, and wreathy labyrinthes of nature.
1650 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica (ed. 2) iii. xxiii. 137 That famous one [sc. horn] which is preserved at S. Dennis near Paris, hath wreathy spires, and chocleary [read cochleary] turnings about it.
1790 J. Baillie Poems 3 Slowly mounts the smoke in wreathy clouds.
1817 T. Moore Lalla Rookh 411 Those wreathy, Red Sea shells, Where Love himself, of old, lay sleeping.
1853 Fraser's Mag. 47 513 The very foam of the sea, flung in all its wreathy airiness from the crest of a wave.
1950 B. MacDonald Anybody can do Anything i. 17 That little tiny child has turned around so he won't have to look at those wreathy writhy snakes.
2003 P. Fromm As Cool as I Am i. 1 Exhaust fog thick and wreathy around us.
b. Heraldry. Of an ordinary: depicted so as to resemble a twisted band; = wreathed adj. 1d. See wreath n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > extra-scutal devices > [adjective] > wreathed
accolled1612
wreathed1663
wreathy1720
torced1892
tortilly1894
torsed-
1720 F. Nichols Rudiments of Honour 299 Pearl a Fess wreathy, Saphyr and Rubie.
1795 ‘M. A. Porny’ Elements Heraldry (ed. 5) iv. 77 Or, an Eagle displayed Sable, surtout an Escutcheon Argent, charged with a Fess wreathy Azure.
1841 J. Burke & J. B. Burke Geneal. & Heraldic Hist. Extinct & Dormant Baroneticise (ed. 2) 619/1 Arms—Arg. a fess wreathy. az. and gu.
1894 Parker's Gloss. Her. Tortilly,..a term applied to Ordinaries which are wreathed; the term wreathy is also found.
1985 J. P. Brooke-Little Heraldic Alphabet (paperback ed.) (1988) 224 (caption) Bend cotised wreathy.
2.
a. Adorned with a wreath or wreaths.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > floriculture and flower arranging > [adjective] > garlanded or wreathed
wreathed1597
wreathy1697
engarlanded1858
garlanded1862
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 309 The Bacchanalian Dames..houl about the Hills, and shake the wreathy Spear.
1828 J. Patterson tr. Aristophanes Clouds in On National Char. Athenians 201 Banquet and wreathy sacrifice Hallow each season as it flies.
1961 J. Kerouac Good Blonde & Others (1994) 105 Old MacArthur's wreathy front door.
2004 J. McCafferty Thank You for Music 9 ‘Oh Holy Night,’ played the harp in the candlelit corner of the wreathy room.
b. Of the nature of or resembling a wreath or garland; forming part of a wreath or garland.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > floriculture and flower arranging > [adjective] > garlanded or wreathed > of the nature of a wreath or garland
wreathy1710
1710 G. Stubbes Laurel & Olive 1 Me Love and soft-conspiring Gales betray'd To Sylvan Scenes, by wreathy Myrtle made.
1719 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia v. 181 Her bristling Locks the wreathy Fillet scorn.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. vi. 152 Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads A wreathy foliage.
1830 M. R. Mitford Our Village IV. 214 Art and literature..adorning with a wreathy and garlandy splendour all that is noblest in mind and purest in heart.
1845 R. Browning Flight of Duchess xvi, in Bells & Pomegranates No. VII: Dramatic Romances & Lyrics 19/1 His forehead chapletted green with wreathy hop.
1934 J. Culver So stood I vii. 121 She gave Nancy a little red missal tied with a white ribbon and engraved with two hearts in a wreathy circle.
2012 J. Zimmerman Love, Fiercely ix. 119 The front of every soot-gray building was festooned with crimson cloth or wreathy swags of foliage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1644