WREATH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Wreath

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noun

Wreath n. (pl. wreaths)

1.

Something twisted, intertwined, or curled; as, a wreath of smoke; a wreath of flowers. "A wrethe of gold." "(He) of his tortuous train Curled many a wanton wreath."

2.

A garland; a chaplet, esp. one given to a victor. "Conquest doth grant He dear wreath to the Grecian combatant." "Far back in the ages, The plow with wreaths was crowned."

3.

(Her.) An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest. It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the arms.

verb

Wreathe v. t. (past wreathed; past part. wreathed, archaic wreathen; pres. part. wreathing) (Written also wreath)

1.

To cause to revolve or writhe; to twist about; to turn. (Obs.) "And from so heavy sight his head did wreathe."

2.

To twist; to convolve; to wind one about another; to entwine. "The nods and smiles of recognition into which this singular physiognomy was wreathed." "From his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve Down dropped."

3.

To surround with anything twisted or convolved; to encircle; to infold. "Each wreathed in the other's arms." "Dusk faces with withe silken turbants wreathed." "And with thy winding ivy wreathes her lance."

4.

To twine or twist about; to surround; to encircle. "In the flowers that wreathe the sparkling bowl, Fell adders hiss."

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Etymology of 'Wreath'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Wreath" Quotes from Famous Books

... by Scott in the forty-first chapter of The Heart of Mid-Lothian, as "him of the laurel wreath," was Robert Southey, who was appointed poet laureate of England in 1813. The lines quoted are from Southey's poem of "Thalaba the ...

— Harper's Young People, September 21, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... of myself walking with a proud step down a vast hall, the usual wreath of fame on my head. I wore a sort of toga. And of course a great concourse of people stood apart in silent reverence on either side, gazing at me admiringly. With the thunder of ...

— Tramping on Life - An Autobiographical Narrative • Harry Kemp

... outer pocket of a long linen duster, worn by a tall youth who at that moment had his mouth widely distended with laughter. He clapped his hand to his pocket, when another went off there. With that he whirled around, the lengthy skirts of the "duster" floating out in a circle amidst a wreath of blue powder smoke. Snap-fizz went another and another cracker, the sparks flying and an odor of burnt cloth beginning to pervade the air. The crowd, shouting in fresh glee, speedily drew out from the new victim and formed ...

— When Life Was Young - At the Old Farm in Maine • C. A. Stephens

... harshness the lady asks her lover: Who are you, and what do you want? He answers with ardent confidence: "Thy love I do adore. The stars live in the harmony of love, and why should not we, too, love each other?" Then the proud beauty gives herself away: she takes her flower-wreath from her hair and throws it down to her lover, promising ...

— Searchlights on Health - The Science of Eugenics • B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols

... morning of the hallowed day! Mute is the voice of rural labor, hushed The ploughboy's whistle and the milkmaid's song. The scythe lies glittering in the dewy wreath Of tedded grass, mingled with faded flowers, That yestermorn bloomed waving in the breeze; Sounds the most faint attract the ear,—the hum Of early bee, the trickling of the dew, The distant bleating, midway up the hill. Calmness sits throned on yon unmoving ...

— The World's Best Poetry Volume IV. • Bliss Carman

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