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wreathe

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wreathe

[reeth] verb, wreathed; wreathed or (Archaic) wreath⋅en; wreath⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to encircle or adorn with or as with a wreath.
2. to form as a wreath by twisting or twining.
3. to surround in curving or curling masses or form.
4. to envelop: a face wreathed in smiles.
–verb (used without object)
5. to take the form of a wreath or wreaths.
6. to move in curving or curling masses, as smoke.

Origin:
1520–30; earlier wrethe, partly v. use of wreath, partly back formation from wrethen, obs. ptp. of writhe


wreather, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wreathe   (rēth)   
v.   wreathed, wreath·ing, wreathes

v.   tr.
  1. To twist or entwine into a wreath.

  2. To twist or curl into a wreathlike shape or contour.

  3. To crown, decorate, or encircle with or as if with a wreath.

  4. To coil or curl.

  5. To form a wreath or wreathlike shape around.

v.   intr.
  1. To assume the form of a wreath.

  2. To curl, writhe, or spiral: The smoke wreathed upward.


[From wreath.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wreathe 
1530, a back-formation from wrethen, M.E. pp. of writhe.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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