withe

Meaning

Noun

1. A flexible, slender shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding; a withy.
2. A band of twisted twigs.
3. An elastic handle to a tool to save the hand from the shock of blows.
4. An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured.
5. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of wythe (“single section of bricks one unit thick”).
6. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of wythe (“partition between flues in a chimney”).

Verb

1. (transitive) To bind with withes.
2. (transitive) To beat with withes.

Synonyms

withy

with

twig

switch

wicker

willow

subshrub

birch

mid-feather

ferule

rail

shrub

wattle

Translations

vimine

saz

bejuco

Wandschale

βέργα

λεπτή βέργα ιτέας

ramoscello

virgulto

vinciglio

Cydista

Heteropterys

wilgeteen

vara

vencejo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɪθ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: withe

Inherited from Old English: wiþe

Cognate with Danish: vidje

Cognate with Swedish: vidja

Cognate with Icelandic: við

Cognate with Latin: vītis

Cognate with Russian: ветвь

In summary

From Middle English withe, withthe, from Old English wiþe, wiþþe (“cord, band, thong, fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþjǭ (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis (“that which twines”), from *weyt- (“that which winds or bends, branch, switch”), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”). Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Swedish vidja (“withe, wicker, osier”), Icelandic við, viðja (“a withe”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.