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

Related forms
wreath·er, noun
in·ter·wreathe, verb, in·ter·wreathed, in·ter·wreath·ing.

Can be confused: wraith, wreath, wreathe, writhe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
wreathe (riːð) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb
1.  to form into or take the form of a wreath by intertwining or twisting together
2.  (tr) to decorate, crown, or encircle with wreaths
3.  to move or cause to move in a twisting way: smoke wreathed up to the ceiling
 
[C16: perhaps back formation from wrēthen, from Old English writhen, past participle of wrīthan to writhe; see wreath]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

wreathe
1530, a back-formation from wrethen, M.E. pp. of writhe.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
As she drives out of the hollow, clumps of fog wreathe the ridgeline, and the mountainsides are washed in muted greens and grays.
It is but making her a flaunting paradox to wreathe her in gems and flowers.
On that day the cigarette smokers, no longer free to wreathe their desks in fragile clouds of blue, took to the street.
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