wreathe
/ɹiːð/US/ɹið/
wreathe verb: to coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.
Verb
wreathe (third-person singular simple present wreathes, present participle wreathing, simple past and past participle wreathed)
- To coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.
- [S]he ſtarts like one that ſpies an adder, / VVreath'd vp in fatall folds iuſt in his vvay, / The feare vvhereof doth make him ſhake, & ſhudder, […]1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 147], signature Fiij, recto, lines [878–880]
- [T]he Beards of vvilde Oates, and thoſe of divers other vvilde Plants; […] almoſt continually vvreath and unvvreath themſelves according to, even, the light variations of the temperature of the ambient Air.1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “A Digression Containing Some Doubts Touching Respiration”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects […]...
- To adorn (someone or something) with a garland or wreath.
- [W]ith Laurels vvreath your poſts, / And ſtrovv vvith Flovv'rs the Pavement; […]1677 (first performance), John Dryden, All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC, Act I, page 5
- Eſcap'd the flaſhing of the noontide hours / VVith one freſh garland of Pierian flovvers / (Ere from thy zephyr-haunted brink I turn) / My languid hand ſhall vvreath thy moſſy urn.1796, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Lines to a Beautiful Spring in a Village”, in Poems on Various Subjects, London: […] G[eorge] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinsons, and J[oseph] Cottle, […], →OCLC, page...
- Of flowers, leaves, etc.: to form the shape of a wreath around (something).
- Death's Harbingers, lye latent in the Draught: / And in the Flovv'rs that vvreath the ſparkling Bovvl, / Fell Adders hiſs, and poys'nous Serpents roll.1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page...
- O'er Diſappointment's vvintry deſart fling / Each flovver, that vvreath'd the devvy locks of Spring, / VVhen bluſhing, like a bride, from Hope's trim bovver / She leapt, avvaken'd by the pattering ſhovver.1796, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Effusion XXXVI. Written in Early Youth, the Time, an Autumnal Evening.”, in Poems on Various Subjects, London: […] G[eorge] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinsons, and...
- Often followed by in and the thing encircling: to coil or spiral around, or encircle, (someone or something); (by extension) to cover or envelop (someone or something).
- wreathed in mystery
- At the funeral, a circle of comrades wreathed the grave of the honoured deceased.
- Antonyms:
- unwreathe
- Followed by about, around, or round: to coil, twist, or wind (oneself or something) around a person or thing; (by extension) to cause (oneself or something) to cover or encircle a person or thing.
- He had a kercher wreathed aboute his heed: […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan...
- [A]bout his necke / A greene and guilded ſnake had vvreath'd it ſelfe, […]c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Antonyms:
- unwreathe
- Often followed by together: to entwine or twist (two or more people or things) together; to intertwine, to interweave.
- [Y]ou haue learn'd (like Sir Protheus) to vvreath your Armes like a Male-content: […]c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- You do not loue Maria? Longauile, / Did neuer Sonnet for her ſake compile, / Nor neuer lay his vvreathed arms athvvart / His louing boſome, to keepe dovvne his hart.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
- Synonyms:
- interwreathe
- To form (a crown, garland, wreath, etc.) by entwining or twisting flowers, leaves, etc., together; also, to entwine or twist (flowers, leaves, etc.) together to form a crown, garland, wreath, etc.
- On th' other ſide, Adam, ſoon as he heard / The fatal Treſpaſs don by Eve, amaz'd, / Aſtonied ſtood and Blank, vvhile horror chill / Ran through his veins, and all his joynts relax'd; / From his ſlack hand the Garland vvreath'd for Eve / Dovvn drop'd, and all the faded Roſes ſhed: […]1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature...
- [Y]our friend Piers / Wreath'd me this cowslip garland for my head— […]1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act I, page 8
- To strengthen (an earthen embankment) with hurdles of wattle.
- To form (something) by entwining or twisting two or more things together; also, to entwine or twist (something) with another thing.
- Yf ther be twaine, one may defend the tother ouer throwne. / The single twyned cordes may no suche stresse indure / As cables brayded thre fould may, together wrethed swer [i.e., sure].a. 1548 (date written), “[Translations from the Bible.] Ecclesiastes 4.”, in Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, transl., edited by Frederick Morgan Padelford, The Poems of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey...
- Sale) or Salovv a kind of vvoodde like VVyllovv, fit to vvreath and bynde in leapes to catch fiſh vvithall.1579, E. K., “[December. Ægloga Duodecima.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 51, verso
- Followed by on: to place (a yoke, symbolizing a burden) on someone's neck.
- [T]he French troops vvere to be employed as inſtruments for ſubduing the Scots, and vvreathing the yoke about their necks.1759, William Robertson, “Book V”, in The History of Scotland, during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI, till His Accession to the Crown of England. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew]...
- Followed by about, around, or round: to coil, twist, or wind around a person or thing.
- [W]hen the Hoppe groweth high it muſt haue a pole, when the Iuie ſpreadeth, it cleaueth to the flint, when the Vine riſeth, it wreatheth about yͤ Elme, […]1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues to His Friend Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 105, recto
- Antonyms:
- unwreathe
- Of mist, smoke, etc.: to move with a coiling, spiralling, or twisting motion.
- I unsealed the vial mystical, / I outpoured the liquid thing, / And while the smoke came wreathing out, / I stood unshuddering.1833 (date written), Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A True Dream (Dreamed at Sidmouth, 1833)”, in Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, edited by Frederic G[eorge] Kenyon, New Poems, London...
- Real fire of pine-wood in some rocky place, / Wreathing around my body greedily, / A dreadful beacon o'er the leaden sea.1867, William Morris, “Book VII”, in The Life and Death of Jason: A Poem, London: Bell and Daldy, […], →OCLC, page 133, lines 394–396
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- Followed by with: to become intertwined with something.
- Of snow: to form drifts.
- To arrange (one's expression, face, etc.) into a smile; also (reflexive), of the lips, mouth, etc.: to arrange (itself or themselves) into a smile.
- Contempt kept Bertram's anger down, / And wreathed to savage smile his frown.1813, Walter Scott, “Canto First”, in Rokeby; a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or John Ballantyne and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza...
- […] Gilbert of Ghent, […] walked up to the pair, his weather-beaten countenance wreathed into what were meant for paternal smiles.1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward Was Asked to Slay an Old Comrade”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC...
- To bend or turn (oneself), often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe.
- To artfully introduce (oneself) into a situation, a person's thoughts, etc.; to insinuate.
- To cause (the body, limbs, etc.) to twist violently; to contort, to writhe.
- If an huge ſcaly Salmon chance to ſpy / The vvanton Errors of the ſvvimming Fly, / […] / Soon in ſmart Pains he feels the dire Miſtake, / Laſhes the VVaves, and beats the foamy Lake, / […] / And novv again, impatient of the VVound, / He rolls and vvreathes his ſhining Body round; […]1713, [John] Gay, Rural Sports. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, pages 7–8
- Warm corpses fall upon the clay cold dead; / And even in death their lips are wreathed with fear.— […]1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Eleventh”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century. […], London: […] [F]or...
- To rip or tear (something); to rend.
- The ſame day in the afternoone we ſawe in the element, a cloud with a long tayle, like vnto the tayle of a ſerpent, which cloud is called in Italian Cion, the tayle of this cloud did hang as it were into the ſea: […] The Marriners reported to vs that it had this propertie, that if it ſhould happen...1599, Iohn Locke [i.e., John Lok], “The Voyage of M. Iohn Locke to Ierusalem”, in Richard Hakluyt, The Second Volume of the Principal Nauigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English...
- The bitings of lyons and ſuch like beaſtes are ſo dangerous, in regard of their ſtrength and fierceneſſe, for they doe not onely bite, but alſo vvreath and teare the vvounds vvhich they make vvith their teeth, or nailes: […]1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the Lyon. [The Medicines of the Lyon.]”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 487
- To turn (something) violently around or aside; to wrench, to wring.
- [T]o wreſt the will of man, or to wreath his hearte to our humours, it is not in the compaſſe of Arte, but in the power of the moſt higheſt.1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 63, recto
- They killed a man vvhich vvas a firſt-borne, vvreathing his head from his bodie, and embalming the ſame vvith ſalt and ſpices: & then vvrote vpon a plate of gold the name of an vncleane ſpirit, and putting the ſame vnder the head, ſet it vpon a vvall, & burned Candles before it and vvorſhipped the...1614, Samuel Purchas, “[Asia.] Of the Diuers Sects, Opinions, and Alterations of Religion, amongst the Hebrewes.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in...
- Followed by from: to take (something) by force; to wrest.
- To make (a bow) by bending forward.
- […] Thoſe of fairer front, / But equal inhumanity, in courts, / And ſlippery pomp delight, in dark cabals; / VVreathe the deep bovv, diffuſe the lying ſmile, / And tread the vveary labyrinth of ſtate.1730, James Thomson, “Autumn. Inscribed to the Right Honourable Arthur Onslow, Esq; Speaker of the House of Commons.”, in The Seasons, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 185, lines 1196–1200
- To give (spoken or written words) a false or strained meaning; to twist.
- To bend or turn, often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe.
- [F]or griefe his hart did grate, / And from ſo heauie ſight his head did vvreath, / Accuſing fortune, and too cruell fate, / VVhich plonged had faire Lady in ſo vvretched ſtate.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 56, page 203
- But Aiax a farre greater ſtone, lift vp, and (vvreathing round, / VVith all his bodie layd to it) he ſent it forth to vvound, / And gaue vnmeaſur'd force to it; the round ſtone broke vvithin / His rundled target: […][1611?], Homer, “The Seventh Booke of Homers Iliads”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC, page 101
wreathe meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
wreathe in Tamil
- மாலை போல அலங்கரி, மாலை போல மலர் தொடு, மலர்வளையம் போலச் சுற்று, வளை, சுழல்
wreathe in Malayalam
- garland, festoon, drape
- അലങ്കരിക്കുക, പുഷ്പാലങ്കാരം ചെയ്യുക, മാലയാക്കുക, മാലയിടുക, പൂമാല കൊണ്ട് അലങ്കരിക്കുക, തോരണം കെട്ടുക
- coil, spiral, loop
- ചുരുളുക, ചുറ്റുക, തിരിയുക, ചുഴലുക, ചുഴന്നുപോകുക, പിണയുക
wreathe in Kannada
- ಹೂಮಾಲೆ, ಹಾರ, ಮಾಲೆ, ದಂಡೆ, ಮಂಜು, ಸಿಂಬೆ
Examples of wreathe in a sentence
- So, entering London about sunrise, doors and windows were duly wreathed with garlands; and every village in the suburbs had its May-pole, which stood in its place all the year.1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […]...
- Old Nico wreathed the tomb of maiden Melitê.1968, Philip [i.e., Philippus of Thessalonica], “LXXVII: The Young Buried by the Old”, in A[ndrew] S[ydenham] F[arrar] Gow, D[enys]...
- "Enough to wreathe the winter's dead," she said with a happy little sigh and, taking a pink bud from the pile, twined it in the lace of her black cap.1942, Emily Carr, “The Orange Lily”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; republished as The Book of Small...
- When, in the darkness over me, / The fourhanded mole shall scrape, / Plant thou no dusky cypresstree, / Nor wreathe thy cap with doleful crape, / But pledge me in the flowing grape.1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “To ——”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza III, page 3:
Synonyms of wreathe
Antonyms
Forms of wreathe
| third-person singular present | wreathes |
|---|---|
| present participle | wreathing |
| past participle | wreathed |
| past | wreathed |
| alternative form | wreath |
| first-person singular past (archaic) | wreath'd |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | wreathest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | wreathedst |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | wreath'd |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | wreatheth |
| third-person singular past (archaic) | wreath'd |
| plural past (archaic) | wreath'd |
| past subjunctive (archaic) | wreath'd |
| past participle (archaic) | wreath'd |
Origin of wreathe
From Middle English wrethen (“to twist”), partly: * from wrethen (“twisted, wreathed”) (whence modern English wreathen (“(obsolete) made into a wreath; twisted”, adjective)), the past participle of writhen, wrythen (“to twist into a braid, coil, or wreath; to twist out of position or shape, deform; to twist together, intertwine; to twist about, writhe; to bend; to swathe, wrap; etc.”), from Old English wrīþan (“to twist; to bind; to wrap”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”); and * from wreth, wrethe (“coiled or rounded shape; decorative garland, wreath; chaplet, crown; ring”, noun), from Old English *wreoþa, wriþa (“band, coil, ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *wriþō, from Proto-Germanic *wriþô, from *wrīþaną (see further above).
Words formed from wreathe
- enwreathe
- inwreathe
- interwreathe
- unwreathe
- unwreathed
- wreathed
- wreather
- wreathewort
- wreathing
Words that rhyme with wreathe
Questions about wreathe
- What does wreathe mean?
- Wreathe means to coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.
- What is wreathe in Tamil?
- Wreathe in Tamil is மாலை போல அலங்கரி, மாலை போல மலர் தொடு, மலர்வளையம் போலச் சுற்று. See Wreathe meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use wreathe in a sentence?
- So, entering London about sunrise, doors and windows were duly wreathed with garlands; and every village in the suburbs had its May-pole, which stood in its place all the year.
- What part of speech is wreathe?
- Wreathe is a verb.
- How do you pronounce wreathe?
- Wreathe is pronounced /ɹiːð/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of wreathe?
- The past tense of wreathe is wreathed.
Words near wreathe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: wreathe (page history and authors); wreathe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); wreathe (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); wreathe (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wreathe.wav.
Cite this entry: “wreathe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wreathe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.