Forms: 1, 3 wiððe, wiþþe, 4–9 wyth, 5–6 wythe, (4 withthe, wyþþe, 5–6 wythth(e, 5 witthe, whythe, 6 wethe, 7 wieth, Anglo-Ir. whitt; dial. 5 wyffe, 6 wifte, wyft, 7, 9 wift, 9 wiff, weef, wef), 6– with, withe. [OE. wiþþe, corresp. to OFris. withthe, witte, MDu. wisse (WFlem. wisse, Du. wis, wisch), MLG., LG. wedde, OHG. with, widh, wit (MHG. wit), OHG. withî, widî, (MHG. wide), also in OHG. khunawithi (cf. OE. cynewiþþe), ON. við (gen. viðjar), viðja (Sw. vidja, Da. vidje):—OTeut. *wiþjôn-, *wiþi-. Other Teut. variants are represented by MLG. wîde, OHG. wîda (MHG. wîde, G. weide) willow, Goth. wida in kunawida chain, ON. víðir willow, OE. wíþiʓ WITHY, q.v. (The variant forms with f are mainly Kentish.)
Outside Germanic cognate words of similar meaning from Indo-Eur. weit-, wit- are:—Zend vaêti- willow, Gk. ἰτέα willow (:—*ϝειτεϝᾱ), ἴτυς felloe, L. vītis vine, Lith. výtis wand, OPruss. witwan willow, OSlav. vĕtvĭ branch, OIr. féith ‘fibra’ (:—*weiti). According to a widely accepted view weit- is a derivative of wi-, which is represented also by L. viēre to plait, WIRE sb., and perh. WOUGH, wall.]
1. A band, tie or shackle consisting of a tough flexible twig or branch, or of several twisted together; such a twig or branch, as of willow or osier, used for binding or tying, and sometimes for plaiting.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 594. Egeas … bebead ðam cwellerum ðæt hi hine mid wiððum handum and fotum on ðære rode ʓebundon.
c. 1100. in Wr.-Wülcker, Voc., 105/9. Circus, uel circulus, wiðþe. Funiculus, uel funis, rap. Ibid., 183/16. Loramentum, uel tormentum, wiððe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 15813, 5. Þe Laferrd wrohhte an swepe þær all alls itt wære off wiþþess, To tacnenn þatt hemm ȝarrkedd wass stranng pine i defless wiþþess.
c. 1205. Lay., 25973. Þat weore twælf swine iteied to-somne Mid wiðen swiðe grete y-wriðen al togadere.
a. 1400. Sir Perc., 423. Brydille hase he righte nane;… Bot a wythe hase he tane, And keuylles his stede.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 531/1. Wythe bonde … boia.
1520. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. Paed for wyft & Roddis for the [thacker] v d.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 15. The fote-teame shall be fastened … with a shakyll, or a withe to drawe by.
1553. Eden, Treat. Newe Ind., C ij. Vnbrideled hauinge neither withe nor coller aboute thyr neckes. Ibid. (1555), Decades, 271. Theyr shyppes … are tide togyther … with cordes and wyththes.
1570. Foxe, A. & M. (ed. 2), 2165. They found … a casket locked with a padlocke, and so cutting the wifte [printed wiste] thereof, opened it.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, 16. Two Calues … that were coupled together by the neckes with an Oken With.
1600. Hakluyt, Voy., III. 192. The manner of their hanging vp of their fish and flesh with withes to dry.
1611. Bible, Judges xvi. 7. If they binde me with seuen greene withs [Great Bible withes], that were neuer dried, then shall I be weake.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 181. These Rogues … girding their swords to them by a with.
162[?]. Toke (Kent) Estate Accts. (MS.). For 300 of wifts.
1639. T. de Grey, Compl. Horsem., 271. They haue taken a withe and put it through the hole of the said stone.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), I. 241. Tyinge rope and whitts to either end thereof.
1693. Evelyn, De la Quint. Compl. Gard., II. 166. We tie up first with Osier withs, and afterwards … we … wrap up with long Litter … some Spanish Cardons.
1712. E. Cooke, Voy. S. Sea, 270. For making of these Bridges, they twist Withes together, like Ropes.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., II. 674. Proper wyths for tying them together.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 281. In fir rims, the wooden withes of the bottom are passed through splits.
1863. Kingsley, Water-Bab., v. 180. A round cage of green withes.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict., Withes, twisted rods for securing the web of a gabion.
1877. W. Jones, Finger-ring, 383. A … massive gold mourning-ring formed of two knotted withes twisted together.
1881. Leics. Gloss., Wiff, var. pron. of ‘withe,’ ‘willow-wiffs.’
1885. Mars Ross & H. Stonehewer-Cooper, Highl. Cantabria, 335. Rounded stones … with grooves around them, where the withe would have been twisted, to form a handle for its manipulation.
1887. Kentish Gloss., s.v. Wiff, The large kind of fagot, which wont by the name of kiln-bush, was bound with two wiffs.
b. gen. A pliant twig or bough.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. vi. I. 245. As he rises from sleep, a Brahmen must rub his teeth with a proper withe.
1833. M. Scott, Tom Cringle, xii. The fork of the tree, from which the withe depended.
1881. Mrs. C. Praed, Policy & P., vii. A trailing withe of orange begonia.
† c. A willow wand or garland carried into the sovereign’s or a nobleman’s house at Easter; hence, the ceremony or festivity itself. Obs.
1465. Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 509. Item, on Ester day my master gaff to John Kooke to the wythe, xxd. Ibid. (1467), 393. Item, on Estyr day, my mastyr gaffe to the wyffe in the Kenges howse, vj. s. viij. d.
1537. Privy Purse Exp. Princ. Mary (1831), 24. Geuen to the Kinges Cookes to thayr wythe at Eastr … xl s.
1559. MS. Acc. Bk. Butchers Co. London. Payd for xii men for ye brynging in of ye Quynes wythe.
1598. Stow, Surv., 72. In the weeke before Easter had yee great shewes made for the fetching in of a twisted Tree, or With,… out of the woodes into the kinges house.
d. With allusion to the story of Samson in Judges xvi. 7. (see sense 1, quot. 1611).
1835. Faber, Lett. (1869), 39. My soul arose … and cracked in scorn the chains of darkness, like the green withs of the strong man.
1866. Mrs. Gaskell, Wives & Dau., xiv. I know that if I choose to exert myself, I can break through the withes of green flax with which they try to bind me.
1876. Blackie, Songs Relig. & Life, 29. Strong by thee, like feeble withes he snapt The bonds of custom.
† 2. A halter, properly one made with withes. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 22833. Doð wiððe an his sweore & draȝeð hine to ane more.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 11551. Aboute þy nekke hanggeþ a wyþþe, Þat haþ þe departed fro Goddys gryþþe.
1340. Ayenb., 135. Þe þief … yproued and y-nome and mid mo þanne an hondred misdedes þet heþ nieȝ þe wyþþe ine þe nykke.
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut. xviii. 21–22, 681/2. Who walked about the streetes as it were with a with about his necke.
1612. Beaum. & Fl., Coxcomb, III. i. A wyth take him.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Custom & Educ. (Arb.), 371. That he might be hanged in a With, and not in a Halter, because it had beene so vsed, with former Rebels.
1675. T. Brooks, Gold. Key, Wks. 1867, V. 441. [He] was condemned to the fire with others, only he should have the favour of going to the stake without a wyth.
1694. S. Johnson, Notes Past. Let. Bp. Burnet, I. 1. If the Highest Censures will not do it, we must do as is done in like Cases, we must Take a Wyth.
3. A willow. Now dial.
c. 1340. Nominale (Skeat), 671. Wyth, brome, and quincetre.
1569. Surrey & Kent Sewers Comm. (L. C. C., 1909), 31. To Cut vppe the Wythes by the Banck syde. Ibid. (1572), 130. To cut vp his wethes & share his bankes throw his groundes.
1696–1864. [see WATER-WITHE].
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, II. ii. 330. A Rod … made of Red Sallow, Withe or Hazle.
1777. Robertson, Hist. Amer., IV. I. 328. The root of the curare, a species of withe.
b. The creeping plant Heliotropium fruticosum, of Jamaica, the stems of which are used for making baskets.
1657. R. Ligon, Barbadoes, 87. Worse then all weeds, Withs, which are of a stronger grouth then the Canes.
1740. New Hist. Jamaica (ed. 2), 316.
1847. Gosse, Birds Jamaica, 373. The gradual predominance of marsh plants, sagittaria,… bulrush, and black-withe.
4. technical. (See quots.)
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 360/2. A Glovers With … is a square Iron, writhen (as it were) like a Wreath…: Upon this they do use to rub and fret their Leather Skins to make them soft and plump; which kind of work from the name of the Instrument, they term Withing.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 736. With, an iron instrument fitted to the end of a boom or mast, with a ring to it, through which another boom or mast is rigged out and secured. Also, in mechanics, the elastic withe handles of cold chisels, set-tools, &c., which prevent a jar to the assistant’s wrist.
1880. Encycl. Brit., XI. 437/2. A blacksmith’s chisel held in a hazel withe, and used for hot iron.
1892. Labour Commission, Gloss., Withes, iron hoops or bands used for binding bales of cotton or rags.
5. attrib. and Comb.
1839. T. T. Stoddart, Songs & P., 21.
| His rod is unwielded, his tackle unfreed, | |
| And the withe-woven pannier lies flung on the mead. |
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., viii. 199. Axes made … by grinding the edge of a suitable pebble, and fixing it in a withe handle.
1866. Treas. Bot., 1235/2. Withe-rod, Viburnum nudum.
1902. Cornish, Naturalist Thames, 85. I once turned out a dozen water-hens, a brown owl, a woodcock, and a water-rail, from one little withe patch.
