[f. prec. sb.: cf. F. brancher.]
I. intr. 1. To bear or put forth branches; sometimes with forth, out. Also fig.
1382. Wyclif, Ecclus. xxxix. 19. Floureth floures, as lilie; ȝyueth smel, and brauncheth in to grace.
1552. Huloet, Braunchen, or haue braunches, frondeo.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., I. i. 27. There rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot chuse but braunch now.
1759. trans. Duhamel’s Husb., II. i. (1762), 127. Gave the earth round these plants a good stirring before they branched.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 478. They branch even before they reach the ground.
2. transf. and fig. To throw out branches or offshoots; to separate into branches, ramify. Freq. const. from, into. Now almost always with out.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., III. ix. (1495), 54. The fyfthe synewe braunchyth and comyth in bowes to the Instrumentes of towchynge.
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., Introd. Wks. I. 129. What subject does not branch out to infinity?
1853. Robertson, Serm., Ser. III. iii. (1872), 31. It branches, therefore, into a twofold division.
1862. H. Spencer, First Princ., I. v. § 32 (1875), 117. Consequences … that go on branching out more widely as years progress.
b. To spring out, as a branch or branches from the stem or root; to deviate from an original direction, strike off in a new path; to diverge from a central point; in mod. use chiefly with adv. out, off, less freq. away.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 8750. Beamys of bright sun, þat braunchis olofte.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 247, ¶ 2. I have known a woman branch out into a long dissertation upon the edging of a petticoat.
1799. Scotl. Described (ed. 2), 13. Many inferior ranges, here and there, branch out from them on all sides.
c. 1811. Fuseli, Lect. Art, v. (1848), 463. If it branch not out of the subject.
1839. Yeowell, Anc. Brit. Ch., xi. (1847), 112. From this point … branched most of the great roads into the interior.
1870. Max Müller, Sc. Relig. (1873), 163. A very early concentration of speech from which these dialects branched off.
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xviii. 212. The Foss Way … branched off from the Eastern gate.
1884. J. Theodore Bent, in Macm. Mag., Oct., 431/1. An excellent street, the street of Hermes, branches away from the quay, and leads into a vast square where in the evenings the inhabitants promenade to listen to the band.
† 3. To spring, arise or descend from a common stock or parentage; also, To be branched (in the same sense). Obs.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, I. (Arb.), 18. That from thee Troians should branch a lineal ofspring.
1609. Hieron, Wks., I. (1620), Ded. A 2. All those young plants, which by the great blessing of God haue branched from you both.
1631. Weever, Anc. Fun. Mon., 544. These Butlers are branched from Sir Raph Butler.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, III. xviii. (1840), 146. They were a younger house of the Waldenses, and branched from them.
II. trans.
4. To divide (anything) into branches; to spread out (anything) in the manner of branches.
1700. W. King, Transactioneer, 10. The ends of the Twigs are branched into bunches of Flowers.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, I. 48. The dark yew … branch’d there its naked roots.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 221. Jewels … Sprinkled about in gold that branch’d itself Fine as ice-ferns.
5. fig. To arrange or set out in branches. arch.
1628. Prynne, Cens. Cozens, 10. We branch the matter of this Booke into points of Doctrine and substance.
1673. Lady’s Call., I. v. § 32. I shall not need to branch out devotion into the several parts.
1789. Bentham, Princ. Legisl., xviii. § 56. The whole system of offences … is branched out into five classes.
1810. Month. Rev., LXII. 496. If a Gothic story be branched out in the forms of the Shakspearean drama.
6. To adorn or embroider with gold or needlework representing flowers or foliage. Cf. BRANCH sb. 3. Also fig.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., II. ix. 19. The traine whereof loose far behind her strayd, Braunched with gold and perle.
1611. Fletcher, Philast., V. iv. 37. May the Moths branch their Velvets. Ibid. Branch me his skin in flowers like a sattin.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 631. Enid fell in longing for a dress All branch’d and flower’d with gold.
7. To furnish with branches or branching horns. Also fig.
1633. Ford, Broken Hrt., II. i. 250. The city housewives … Cull, kiss, and cry sweetheart, and stroke the head Which they have branch’d.
