wreath

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wrethe,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English wriþa (“band, ring”),^[2][3][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *wriþô,^[1][7] formed from the weak grade of the verb wrīþan (“to twist”), the source of writhe.^[5][8][9][3] The OED gives Old High German rīdo (“tension”) as a cognate and compares gewriþ (“strap, thong”).^[10][7] Etymonline traces the Germanic base to Proto-Indo-European *wreit- (“to turn, bend”), from the root *wer- (“to turn, bend”);^[11][2] Klein and Etymonline also relate wrath and wroth.^[12][11] Some forms may come instead from the rare Old English wrǣþ, a variant of wrǣd (“band, bundle”), which the OED and Collins also cite.^[10][13] The verb wreathe, from 1530, is partly a back-formation from wrethen, the past participle of writhe, and partly from the noun.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A band or collar, and a ring: Old English wriþa,^[6] recorded about 1000;^[3] the OED's earliest sense is something twisted into a ring, such as a length of rope or ribbon.^[10] In late Old English it was also used of a ring through an animal's nose for leading it.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is something twisted or coiled.^[10][14] Old English also used it for a ring or circlet of metal worn as an ornament, a sense that lasted in archaic use until 1855.^[10] Middle English wrethe, a twisted band, is recorded probably before 1350, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[3] From the 15th century it also meant a fold or wrinkle of the skin, and in heraldry the twisted band that joins a crest to a helmet.^[10][5] The garland of flowers or leaves, now the main sense, is recorded from 1563 according to Barnhart,^[3][11] although the Shorter Oxford dates it to late Middle English.^[5] Coils of smoke or mist rising in a wreath are recorded from 1633,^[10] and Johnson (1755) gave "any thing curled or twisted" first and "a garland; a chaplet" second.^[15] In Scotland a wreath was also a snowdrift, from the early 18th century.^[5][8][16]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English wriþa, a band.^[3][6]
• Old English – a ring of metal worn as an ornament (obsolete after 1855).^[10]
• before 1350 – wrethe, a twisted band.^[3]
• c. 1440 – a fold or wrinkle.^[10]
• 1478 – heraldry, a twisted band.^[10]
• 1495 – a flexible branch woven into a hedge or hurdle.^[10]
• 1519 – a ring-shaped pad for carrying loads on the head.^[10]
• 1563 – a garland of flowers or leaves.^[3]
• 1633 – a curl of smoke or mist.^[10]
• early 18th century – a snowdrift, chiefly in Scotland.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring of flowers, leaves or branches woven together, worn on the head as a mark of honour, hung on a door, or laid on a grave or memorial: They laid a wreath of poppies at the monument.^[13][4][5]
2. Something twisted or coiled into a ring or spiral.^[4][13][10]
3. A curl or ring of smoke, mist or cloud.^[10][5][15]
4. (heraldry) The twisted band that joins a crest to a helmet.^[10][5]
5. A spiral or circular flaw in glass or porcelain.^[13]
6. (chiefly Scotland) A snowdrift.^[5][8][16]

Word family

• wreathlike
• wreathy
• bridal wreath

Related words

• writhe
• wreathe
• wrath
• wroth
• wrist
• wraith

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
15. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)