What does "wreathe" mean?
Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.
Wreathe
/ɹiːð/ verb
verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.
- Grammar: wreathe is listed as verb.
- Nearest alternatives: band, bead, begird, bejewel.
- Useful contrasts: detach, unravel, unwind.
- Usage evidence: Now, hushed the banquet and the tables all / removed, huge wine-bowls for each guest apart / they wreathe with flowers.
How to use "wreathe"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wreathe" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wreathe" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wreathe" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wreathe" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wreathe" is acting as verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "band" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wreathe", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils. also, figuratively, transitive
"[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, […]"
- 2 form into a wreath wordnet
- 3 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To adorn (someone or something) with a garland or wreath. also, figuratively, transitive
"[W]ith Laurels vvreath your poſts, / And ſtrovv vvith Flovv'rs the Pavement; […]"
- 4 decorate or deck with wreaths wordnet
- 5 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Of flowers, leaves, etc.: to form the shape of a wreath around (something). also, figuratively, transitive
"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."
Show 22 more definitions
- 6 move with slow, sinuous movements wordnet
- 7 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; 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). also, figuratively, transitive
"wreathed in mystery"
- 8 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; 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. also, figuratively, reflexive, transitive
"He had a kercher wreathed aboute his heed: […]"
- 9 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Often followed by together: to entwine or twist (two or more people or things) together; to intertwine, to interweave. also, figuratively, transitive
"[Y]ou haue learn'd (like Sir Protheus) to vvreath your Armes like a Male-content: […]"
- 10 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; 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. also, archaic, figuratively, transitive
"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: […]"
- 11 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To strengthen (an earthen embankment) with hurdles of wattle. also, figuratively, transitive
- 12 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; To form (something) by entwining or twisting two or more things together; also, to entwine or twist (something) with another thing. also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"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]."
- 13 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Followed by on: to place (a yoke, symbolizing a burden) on someone's neck. Scotland, also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"[T]he French troops vvere to be employed as inſtruments for ſubduing the Scots, and vvreathing the yoke about their necks."
- 14 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Followed by about, around, or round: to coil, twist, or wind around a person or thing. also, figuratively, intransitive
"[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, […]"
- 15 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Of mist, smoke, etc.: to move with a coiling, spiralling, or twisting motion. also, figuratively, intransitive
"I unsealed the vial mystical, / I outpoured the liquid thing, / And while the smoke came wreathing out, / I stood unshuddering."
- 16 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Followed by with: to become intertwined with something. also, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete, rare
- 17 Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.; Of snow: to form drifts. Scotland, also, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete
- 18 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; 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. transitive
"Contempt kept Bertram's anger down, / And wreathed to savage smile his frown."
- 19 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To bend or turn (oneself), often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe. reflexive, transitive
- 20 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To artfully introduce (oneself) into a situation, a person's thoughts, etc.; to insinuate. archaic, figuratively, reflexive, transitive
- 21 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To cause (the body, limbs, etc.) to twist violently; to contort, to writhe. obsolete, transitive
"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; […]"
- 22 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To rip or tear (something); to rend. obsolete, transitive
"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 to haue lighted on any part of the ſhippe, that it would rent and wreth ſayles, maſt, ſhroudes and ſhippe and all in manner like a wyth: on the land, trees, houſes, or whatſoeuer elſe it lighteth on, it would rent and wreth."
- 23 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To turn (something) violently around or aside; to wrench, to wring. obsolete, transitive
"[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."
- 24 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; Followed by from: to take (something) by force; to wrest. obsolete, transitive
- 25 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To make (a bow) by bending forward. obsolete, rare, transitive
"[…] 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."
- 26 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To give (spoken or written words) a false or strained meaning; to twist. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
- 27 Senses relating to vigorous movement.; To bend or turn, often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe. intransitive
"[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."
Example
"Now, hushed the banquet and the tables all / removed, huge wine-bowls for each guest apart / they wreathe with flowers."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wreathe"?
Common synonyms include: band, bead, begird, bejewel, belt, belt in.
How do you use "wreathe" in a sentence?
Now, hushed the banquet and the tables all / removed, huge wine-bowls for each guest apart / they wreathe with flowers.
How do you pronounce "wreathe"?
Pronounced /ɹiːð/.
Etymology
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 wrǣd, wrǣþ, wriþa (“bandage”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan (“to twist; to weave”) (see further above).