wreath means something twisted, intertwined, or curled. It carries an Arena rating of 1556, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wreath ranks #193 of 42,762 for Qualifying, #1,077 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,083 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,903 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
wreath is pronounced /ɹiːθ/.
Why “wreath” is a great word
A circular ornament formed by twisting together flowers, foliage, or other pliant materials, serving as decoration, honorific, or memorial. From Middle English *wreth, wrethe*, from Old English *wrǣd, wrǣþ, wriþa* ("bandage"), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan* ("to twist, to weave"), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną* ("to twist, to weave"), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt-* ("to twist"). Unlike a "garland," which drapes in linear generosity, or a "chaplet," designed for the head or hand, a wreath insists on the closed, eternal loop. It is the crisp laurel crown of victory, the somber evergreen circle upon a winter door, the fragile ring of wildflowers laid upon fresh grass—a shape crafted to mark a moment that is forever past, a binding of the perishable into a whole that ends precisely where it began.
Etymology
From Middle English 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 (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”). Doublet of wreathe and writhe.
noun
- Something twisted, intertwined, or curled.e.g.“a wreath of smoke a wreath of clouds”
- An ornamental circular band made, for example, of plaited flowers and leaves, and used as decoration; a garland or chaplet, especially one given to a victor.e.g.“So, after a spell, he decided to make the best of it and shoved us into the front parlor. 'Twas a dismal sort of place, with hair wreaths, and wax fruit, and tin lambrekins, and land knows what all.” — 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- A defect in glass.
- An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest; an orle, a torse. It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the coat of arms.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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