wrenn.1
/rɛn/, U.S. /rɛn/ 1. Ornithology.
a. One or other species of small dentirostral passerine birds belonging to the genus Troglodites, esp. the common wren (jenny- or kitty-wren), T. parvulus, native to Europe.In quot. a1500 at α. used in some allusive sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Troglodytidae
wrenc725
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Troglodytidae > genus Troglodytes
wrenc725
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Troglodytidae > genus Troglodytes > species troglodytes (wren)
wrenc725
little kingc1450
Our Lady's hena1529
jenny wren1648
regulus1678
tope1813
staga1825
kitty1825
feather-poke1831
robin1837
robin redbreasta1873
jenny1881
St. Kilda wren1884
α.
β. c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 260 Litorius,wærna.a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 286 Bitorius, wrænna, uel pintorus. a12501 [see α. ]. a12502 [see α. ]. a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 649 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 115 Ye litill we wran Ye wretchit dorche was.c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 31 Robeen and the litil vran var hamely in vyntir.1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 128 Wrans an robin-riddicks.a1842 in Halliwell Nursery Rhymes 184 We'll hunt the wran, says Robin to Bobbin.a1859 in Notes & Queries 2nd Ser. VIII. 209/1 The wran, the king of all birds.1899 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Some Experiences Irish R.M. i The carpenter..wished the divil might run the plumber through a wran's quill.Phrases.c1540 Image Ipocrysy iii, in J. Skelton Poet. Wks. (1843) II. 434 As wise as any wrenne, And holy as an henne.a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. A4 As sair fights wranes as cranes.in extended use.a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. ii. 63 [stage direct. Enter Maria] Toby. Looke where the youngest Wren of mine comes. View more context for this quotationc725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) B 136 Birbicariolus, werna.
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 132 Parrax, wrenna, uel hicemase.
a1250 Owl & Night. 564 (Jesus Coll. MS) Hwat dostu godes among monne? Na mo þene doþ a wrecche wrenne [Cotton MS. wranne].
a1250 Owl & Night. 1717 (Jesus Coll. MS) Þe wrenne [Cotton MS. wranne] for heo cuþe singe Þar com..To helpe þare nyhtegale.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 349 So that the litel wrenne in his mesure Hath yit of kinde a love under his cure.
a1400 in Rel. Ant. 2 107 Levere is the wrenne, Abouten the schowe renne, Than the fithel draut, Other the floute craf.
c1401 J. Lydgate Flour of Curtesye 57 The sely wrenne, the titmose also,..have free eleccioun To flyen..Wher-as hem liste.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xxviii. 573 Thus shull the knyghtes of the rounde table go to a-venge the deth of the wrenne.
a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. B.vii The prety wren That is our Ladyes hen.
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. K4 The Wrenne may striue against the Lions strength, But all in vaine.
1613 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals I. iv. 64 As little Wrens but newly fledge, First, by their nests hop vp and downe the hedge.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila i. xcviii. 13 Shrubs cannot Cedars, nor Wrens Eagles praise.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 224. ⁋2 Thus the fable tells us, that the wren mounted as high as the eagle, by getting upon his back.
1750 C. Smith Antient & Present State Cork II. 334 The Wren makes but short flights..; to hunt and kill him is an antient custom of the Irish on St. Stephen's day.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 102 The wren may be placed among the finest of our singing birds.
1825 W. Wordsworth Contrast 30 This moss-lined shed, green, soft, and dry, Harbours a self-contented Wren.
1864 W. C. Bryant Little People 21 A pleasant spot in spring, where first the wren Was heard to chatter.
1888 Newton in Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 688/2 The range of the Wren in Europe is very extensive.
b. With distinctive premodifiers.
ΚΠ
1638 W. Lisle tr. Heliodorus Hist. vi. 87 A bird no bigger then..the Iynny Wren.
1648 Earl of Westmorland Otia Sacra 137 The finch, the sparrow, Jenny Wren.
1808–14 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. (1831) II. 188 Sylvia troglodytes, Winter Wren.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Kitty-wren, or Jenny-wren, the wren.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Jenny Wren, the wren. An opinion prevails..that this diminutive bird is the female of the Robin Redbreast.
1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 570 Wren... Provincial[ly called] Vraun, or Ran. Cutty, Katy, or Kitty Wren.
1848 S. Maunder Treasury Nat. Hist. 748/2 Wren. (Troglodytes vulgaris), this active little Passerine bird..is very common in England.
1848 S. Maunder Treasury Nat. Hist. 749/1 The American House Wren (Troglodytes domestica)..inhabits the whole of the United States.
1860 All Year Round 7 July 295 The male wrens of North America..build ‘cock-nests’..like the males of our distinct kitty-wrens.
1863 Sat. Rev. 283 He gives up the ripeness of his studies, and the last growth of his artistic skill to our robin red-breasts and jenny wrens.
1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 616/1 The winter wren [T. hyemalis]..is a saucy little atom.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 35 Wren... Familiar names. Kitty, Jenny.
1893 A. Newton Dict. Birds Kitty, a local nickname of the Wren.
1914 Brit. Mus.: Return 157 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 186) LXXI. 193 An example of the St. Kilda Wren (Troglodytes hirtensis).
2. Applied to various Australasian species of wren-like birds (see quots.).See also emu-wren n. at emu n. Compounds, rock wren n. (b) at rock n.1 Compounds 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Malurinae (wren-warbler)
wren1848
wren-warbler1924
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Malurinae (wren-warbler) > genus Amytornis (grass-wren)
grasswren1836
wren1848
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. III. 18 Malurus Cyaneus,..Superb Warbler, Blue Wren, etc., of the colonists.
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. III. 29 The Striated Wren [Amytis striatus] ran with amazing rapidity.
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. III. 19–31, 39–40 [many species of Malurus, Amytis, and Hylacola].
3. A woman, esp. a young woman. U.S. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xxxii. 388 Some tank, that wren! Ha, ha, ha!
1927 Amer. Speech 3 167/1 Dame, frail, skirt, Jane, wren, broad, girl.
1929 A. Conan Doyle Maracot Deep 198 Scanlan has..married his wren in Philadelphia.
1946 B. Treadwell Big Bk. of Swing 125/2 Wren, small, fickle young girl.
1982 M. McMullen Until Death do us Part (1983) 9 Midge was, in her quiet unobtrusive way, a perfect marvel of efficiency, ‘My dear wren,’ Jane sometimes called her.
Compounds
C1. Applied, esp. with distinctive premodifier, to various other small birds of the family Trogloditidæ or Sylviidæ, resembling the common wren in appearance or habits; esp. the gold-crest ( Regulus cristatus).Also gold-crested wren n. at gold-crested adj. Compounds, golden-crested wren n. at golden-crested adj. Compounds, golden-crowned wren n. at golden-crowned adj. Compounds, hill-wren n. at hill n. Compounds 7, marsh wren n. at marsh n.1 Compounds 3b, reed wren n., rock wren n. at rock n.1 Compounds 2c, sedge-wren n. at sedge n.1 Compounds 2, willow-wren n. at willow n. Compounds 2c, wood-wren n. at wood n.1 Compounds 2b(c). Some provincial names are recorded by Swainson (1885), pp. 25–27.
Carolina wren n.
ΚΠ
1868 Chambers's Encycl. X. 287/1 The Carolina wren..(Thryophorus Ludovicanus) and the Marsh Wren..(Cistophorus palustris)..are found chiefly in the vicinity of water.
copped wren n.
ΚΠ
1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words Eng. Birds 87 The copped Wren: Regulus cristatus.
1700 C. Leigh Nat. Hist. Lancs. i. 195 The copped Wren that fed the Dragoons near Durton.
crested wren n.
ΚΠ
1750 C. Smith Antient & Present State Cork II. 335 The Regulus or crested wren..is a smaller bird.
fire-crested wren n.
ΚΠ
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 583/2 [The] Golden-crested Wren..must not be confounded with the rarer Fire-crested Wren,..also to be seen in Britain.
golden wren n.
ΚΠ
1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teachings (1870) iv. 67 The twitter of the golden wren.
gold-naped wren n.
ΚΠ
1823 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds VII. 205 Gold-naped Wren, Sylvia elata,..inhabits Cayenne in the Winter.
ground wren n.
ΚΠ
1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. (at cited word) Yellow Wren... Provincial[ly called] Willow Wren. Ground Wren.
yellow wren n.
ΚΠ
1760 G. Edwards Gleanings Nat. Hist. II. 143 The Yellow Wren hath..been figured and described by different authors under various names.
1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) I. ii. 378 The yellow wren [Sylvia trochilus] frequents..places where willow trees abound from which it takes one of its names.
C2.
a. General attributive.
(a)
wren-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1696 J. Aubrey Miscellanies iv. 44 A whole Parish running like madmen from Hedg to Hedg a Wren-hunting.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 36 Wren-hunting. [Particulars follow.]
1900 Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 10/1 It used to be a common custom..to make wren-hunting parties a feature of the season from Christmas to New Year.
wren-king n.
ΚΠ
1965 W. H. Auden About House (1966) 13 From gallery-grave and the hunt of a wren-king to Low Mass and trailer camp is hardly a tick by the carbon clock.
(b)
wren-like adj.
ΚΠ
1641 True Char. of Untrue Bishop 4 Witnesse his many Sparrowish, Wrenlike wanton extravagances.
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) v. 148 From those loftiest notes Down to the low and wren-like warblings.
1878 R. Browning Poets Croisic cxxxi I'm nobody—a wren-like journalist.
wren-nested adj.
ΚΠ
1925 E. Blunden Eng. Poems 104 Wren-nested hedges.
b. † wren creeper n. Obsolete a variety of tree-creeper (see quots.).
wren-box n. a collecting-box used by ‘wren-boys’.
ΚΠ
1901 Folk-Lore June 131 A wren-box from the Pitt Rivers Museum at Farnham.
wren-boys n. in Ireland, a party of boys or young men, carrying a decorated holly-bush with a wren or wrens hanging from it, who go about on St. Stephen's Day singing verses.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > participants in other specific festivities
savage mana1577
Saturnaliana1665
souler1778
wren-boys?a1800
Jack in the green1835
carnivaller1881
orgiophant1886
strawboy1894
carnivalite1896
garlander1939
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > street musician > specific groups of
waits1773
wren-boys?a1800
?a1800 in Croker Researches in S. Ireland (1824) 233 It won't agree with the Wren boys at all.
1824 T. C. Croker Researches S. Ireland 233 A holly bush..having many wrens depending from it..is carried from house to house with some ceremony, the ‘Wren boys’ chaunting several verses.
a1855 in Notes & Queries 1st Ser. XII. 489 Song of the Youghal Wren-boys.
1871 Yarrell's Brit. Birds (ed. 4) I. 465 The dead bird, hung by the leg between two hoops,..was carried about by the ‘Wren-boys’ [of Cork].
wren-bush n. a bush used for this.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > non-Christian symbols or images > [noun] > bush or tree
wren-bush1901
tree of wisdom1910
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > holly
hollinc725
hollyc1150
holmc1405
hulverc1430
holm-treec1450
hull1557
Christmas1706
wren-bush1901
1901 Folk-Lore June 131 [He] exhibited a Wren-bush from co. Wicklow.
1904 Longman's Mag. Oct. 537 The practice of carrying about ‘the wren-bush’ on St. Stephen's Day.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Certhiidae
sugar-bird1787
sugar-eater1796
wren creeper1811
tree-creeper1814
tree-climber1879
tree-clipper1885
1811 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 268 Wren Creeper,..Size of the..Willow Wren.
1822 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds IV. 271 Wren Creeper, Certhia trochilea,..inhabits America.
wren song n. the song carolled by the wren-boys.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > other types of song
roundelaya1475
black sanctus?1533
pastorella1597
orgial1610
balow1613
comic song1718
hunting-song1727
vaudeville1739
apopemptic1753
melologue1820
Orphic1855
wren song1855
air de cour1878
Kunstlied1880
action song1883
come-all-you1887
marching song1894
party song1911
theme song1929
honky-tonker1950
protest song1953
sing-along1959
slow jam1961
talking blues1969
rap1979
1855 Notes & Queries 1st Ser. 12 489 The Wren Song in Ireland.
wren-tail n. = wren's-tail n.
ΚΠ
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling vi. 204 The Wrentail, Brown Bent, Froghopper.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 38/1 Among the best of these are..the wren-tail, the grouse and partridge hackles.
wren's-tail n. an artificial fly for trout-fishing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > trout flies
trout-fly1746
wren's-tail1837
Greenwell's glory1867
skipjack1867
spent gnat1867
Greenwell1872
heckum-peckum1876
Wickham1876
Saltoun1886
muddler1924
1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 40 The Wren's Tail,..an excellent summer fly.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 245/2 The Wren's Tail..; legs of a wren's tail~feather, used as a hackle.
wren-tit n. U.S. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Timaliinae > genus Chamaea (wren-tit)
wren-tit1872
ground-tit1885
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 79 Chamæidæ; Wren-tits..much like a titmouse in general appearance,..with the general habits of wrens.
wren-warbler n. any of several warblers of the genus Primia, found in tropical Africa or Asia; also, a brightly coloured wren of the subfamily Malurinæ, found in Australasia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > subfamily Malurinae (wren-warbler)
wren1848
wren-warbler1924
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > miscellaneous types of
tailor-bird1769
rubythroat1783
bush-goat1865
Cetti's warbler1875
tree-warbler1881
gnat-catcher1883
crombec1901
wren-warbler1924
1924 E. C. S. Baker Fauna Brit. India: Birds (ed. 2) II. 530 The Ashy Wren-Warbler breeds from March to September.
1931 Discovery May 141/2 The tiny new wren warbler..a wee mite of a bird with a tail almost as long as its body.
1955 C. W. Mackworth-Praed & C. H. B. Grant Birds E. & N.E. Afr. 392 Wren~warblers..occur in both woodland and thorn-scrub.
1974 I. Rowley Bird Life vi. 68 Most Malurus have distinctive and attractive songs so that the name ‘wren-warbler’ is an apt one.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Wrenn.2
/rɛn/, U.S. /rɛn/ Now historical.
1. In plural. With the. The Women's Royal Naval Service. Cf. W.R.N.S. n. at W n. Initialisms.The Women's Royal Naval Service was established in November 1917, disbanded in 1919, reformed in 1939, and finally disbanded in 1993 when membership was absorbed into the Royal Navy.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > [noun] > woman
Wrens1918
WRAN1970
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > [noun] > the British navy > women's branch
Wrens1918
W.R.N.S.1919
1918 Times 5 Jan. 3/5 Recruiting for the Women's Royal Naval Service will begin next week. There seems to be little doubt that this new service, already known as the ‘Wrens’, will prove the most popular of all.
1918 Sphere 4 May 76/2 The three official corps familiarly known as the Waacs, the Wrens, and the Penguins.
1946 ‘Tackline’ (title) You met such nice girls in the Wrens.
1993 Daily Star 17 Sept. 2/2 The WRENS are to be axed in a controversial move to integrate women fully into the Royal Navy.
2005 M. Marshall Perspectives on Rehabilit. & Dementia 240 She spent seven years in the Wrens during World War Two.
2. A member of this service.
ΚΠ
1918 Times 9 Jan. 9/4 It is not likely that there will be any Wrens in London unless a few chauffeurs and the women at headquarters.
1918 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 18 756 In England, women do the greater part of the work in the building of airships. It is proposed to turn them all into ‘Wrens’, as the members of the Women's Royal Naval Service are called.
1940 War Illustr. 5 Jan. 558 At all Naval depots ‘Wrens’ are now doing work as clerks, cooks and in many other capacities, thus relieving men for more active work.
1946 D. C. Wadge Women in Uniform 96 (caption) Dame Vera Laughton Mathews is seen talking to a Wren whose job consists of packing rubber dinghies for naval aircraft.
1979 D. Gurr Troika xi. 75 I..reported to the Admiralty... ‘Captain Jackson's office, please?’ ‘Second floor, sir.’ A good bust and a smile on the duty wren cheered me up.
2013 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 Nov. 20 When she became a Wren she was based at HMS Quebec.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1c725n.21918- to run up against
- to run up against a brick wall
- to run up colour
- to run up the flagpole
- to run up the flagpole and see who salutes it
- to run up the score
- to run up to form
- to run upon
- to run upon all fours
- to run upon the foil
- to run upon the pikes
- to run waste
- to run wild
- to run wild-cat
- to run wildcat
- to run with
- to run with hare and hounds
- to run with the ball
- to run with the hare and hold with the hound
- to run with the hare and hold with the hounds
- to run with the hare and hunt with the hound
- to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
- to run with the herd
- to run, go, act counter
- to run, go, act counter to