wren1
(rɛn)
Forms: α. 1 wrenna (werna), 3–7 wrenne, 5 wrenn, 5–6 wrene (6 pl. wreneys), 5– wren. β. 1 wrænna (wærna), 3, Sc. 6–7 wranne, 5 Sc., 9 Sc. and dial. wran (7 wrane, 9 ran), Sc. 6, 9 vran (9 vraun).
[OE. wrenna (also with metathesis werna), wrænna (wærna), obscurely related to OHG. wrendo, wrendilo, Icel. rindill.]
1. Ornith. a. One or other species of small dentirostral passerine birds belonging to the genus Troglodites, esp. the common wren (jenny- or kitty-wren), T. parvulus, native to Europe.
In quot. c 1450 used in some allusive sense.
| α c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) B 136 Birbicariolus, werna. a 1100 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 132 Parrax, wrenna, uel hicemase. a 1250 Owl & Night. 564 (Jesus Coll. MS), Hwat dostu godes among monne? Na mo þene doþ a wrecche wrenne [Cotton MS. wranne]. Ibid. 1717 Þe wrenne [Cotton MS. wranne] for heo cuþe singe Þar com..To helpe þare nyhtegale. 13.. in Rel. Ant. II. 107 Levere is the wrenne, Abouten the schowe renne, Than the fithel draut, Other the floute craf. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 349 So that the litel wrenne in his mesure Hath yit of kinde a love under his cure. c 1401 Lydg. Flour of Curtesye 57 The sely wrenne, the titmose also,..have free eleccioun To flyen..Wher-as hem liste. c 1450 Merlin xxviii. 573 Thus shull the knyghtes of the rounde table go to a-venge the deth of the wrenne. a 1529 Skelton P. Sparowe 600 The prety wren, That is our Ladyes hen. 1593 Marlowe Edw. II, v. iii, The Wrenne may striue against the Lions strength, But all in vaine. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iv. 13 As little wrens, but newly fledge, First by their nests hop up and downe the hedge. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. i. xcviii, Shrubs cannot cedars, nor wrens eagles praise. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 224 ¶2 Thus the fable tells us, that the wren mounted as high as the eagle, by getting upon his back. 1750 C. Smith State Co. Cork II 334 The Wren makes but short flights..; to hunt and kill him is an antient custom of the Irish on St. Stephen's day. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 268 The wren may be placed among the finest of our singing birds. 1825 Wordsw. The Contrast 30 This moss-lined shed, green, soft, and dry, Harbours a self-contented Wren. 1864 Bryant Little People of Snow 21 A pleasant spot in spring, where first the wren Was heard to chatter. 1888 Newton in Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 688/2 The range of the Wren in Europe is very extensive. |
| β c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 260 Litorius,wærna. a 1100 Voc. Ibid. 286 Bitorius, wrænna, uel pintorus. a 1250 [see α]. c 1450 Holland Houlate 649 The litill we Wran, That wretchit dorche was. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 39 Robeen and the litil vran var hamely in vyntir. 1823 Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 128 Wrans an robin-riddicks. a 1842 in Halliwell Nursery Rhymes 184 We'll hunt the wran, says Robin to Bobbin. a 1859 in N. & Q. 2nd Ser. VIII. 209/1 The wran, the king of all birds. 1880–91 in Antrim, Cornwall, and Devon glossaries. 1899 Somerville & Ross Some Exper. Irish R.M. i, The carpenter..wished the divil might run the plumber through a wran's quill. |
| Phrases. a 1550 Image Hypocr. iii. 105 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 434 As wise as any wrenne And holy as an henne. a 1598 Fergusson Prov. (S.T.S.) 10 As sair fights wranes as cranes. |
| transf. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. ii. 70 [Stage direction] Enter Maria. Toby. Looke where the youngest Wren of mine comes. |
b. With distinguishing epithets.
| 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus vi. 87 A bird no bigger then..the Iynny Wren. 1648– [see jenny wren]. 1808–14 A. Wilson Amer. Ornith. (1831) II. 188 Sylvia troglodytes, Winter Wren. 1825– [see kitty1 2]. 1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 570 Wren... Provincial[ly called] Vraun, or Ran. Cutty, Katy, or Kitty Wren. 1848 Maunder's Treas. Nat. Hist. s.v., The American House Wren (Troglodites domestica)..inhabits the whole of the United States. 1884 Harper's Mag. March 616/1 The winter wren [T. hyemalis]..is a saucy little atom. 1914 Brit. Mus. Return 157 An example of the St. Kilda Wren (Troglodytes hirtensis). |
2. a. Applied,
esp. with distinguishing term, to various other small birds of the family
Trogloditidæ or
Sylviidæ, resembling the common wren in appearance or habits;
esp. the gold-crest (
Regulus cristatus).
Also
hill-wren,
marsh-wren,
reed-wren,
rock-wren,
sedge-wren,
willow-wren,
wood-wren: see
hill n. 4 f,
marsh1 4 b,
reed-wren,
rock n.1 9 c,
sedge n.1 6,
willow n. 6,
wood n.1 Some provincial names are recorded by Swainson (1885), pp. 25–27.
| 1868 Chambers's Encycl. X. 287/1 The *Carolina wren..(Thryophorus Ludovicanus) and the Marsh Wren..(Cistophorus palustris)..are found chiefly in the vicinity of water. |
| 1674 Ray Coll. Words Eng. Birds 87 The *copped Wren: Regulus cristatus. 1700– [see copped ppl. a. 3]. |
| 1750 C. Smith State Co. Cork II. 335 The Regulus or *crested wren..is a smaller bird. |
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 583/2 [The] Golden-crested Wren..must not be confounded with the rarer *Fire-crested Wren,..also to be seen in Britain. |
| Ibid. 583/1 This species is the..*Gold crested Wren..and Kinglet of the modern British. |
| 1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. iv. (1870) 67 The twitter of the *golden wren. |
| 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 511 The small and delicate *golden Crested-wren. 1797 T. Bewick Brit. Birds I. 170 The Golden-crested Wren is diffused throughout Europe. 1830 Booth Analyt. Dict. I. 98 The smallest of all the British birds, is called the Golden-crested Wren. |
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 227 The *golden-crown'd Wren: Regulus cristatus. 1774 G. White Selborne xli, The feeble little golden-crowned wren, that shadow of a bird, braves our severest frosts. |
| 1823 Latham Gen. Hist. Birds VII. 205 *Gold-naped Wren, Sylvia elata,..inhabits Cayenne in the Winter. |
| 1802 Montagu Ornith. Dict. s.v., Yellow Wren... Provincial[ly called] Willow Wren. *Ground Wren. |
| 1758 G. Edwards Glean. Nat. Hist. I. 95 The *Ruby-crowned Wren. |
| 1760 Ibid. II. 143 The *Yellow Wren hath..been figured and described by different authors under various names. 1776 Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4) II. 378 The yellow wren [Sylvia trochilus] frequents..places where willow trees abound from which it takes one of its names. |
b. Applied to various Australasian species of wren-like birds (see
quots.).
Also
emu-wren,
rock-wren (see
emu 4,
rock n.1 9 c).
| 1848 Gould Birds Australia III. 18 Malurus Cyaneus,..Superb Warbler, Blue Wren, etc., of the colonists. Ibid. 29 The Striated Wren [Amytis striatus] ran with amazing rapidity. Ibid. 19–31, 39–40 [many species of Malurus, Amytis, and Hylacola]. |
3. A woman,
esp. a young woman.
U.S. slang.| 1920 S. Lewis Main Street 388 Some tank, that wren! Ha, ha, ha! 1927 Amer. Speech III. 167/1 Dame, frail, skirt, Jane, wren, broad, girl. 1929 A. Conan Doyle Maracot Deep 198 Scanlan has..married his wren in Philadelphia. 1946 B. Treadwell Big. Bk. Swing 125/2 Wren, small, fickle young girl. 1982 M. McMullen Until Death do us Part (1983) 9 Midge was, in her quiet unobtrusive way, a perfect marvel of efficiency, ‘My dear wren,’ Jane sometimes called her. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
wren-hunting,
wren-king;
wren-like,
wren-nested adjs.;
wren-box, a collecting-box used by ‘wren-boys’;
wren-boys, in Ireland, a party of boys or young men, carrying a decorated holly-bush with a wren or wrens hanging from it, who go about on
St. Stephen's Day singing verses;
wren-bush, a bush used for this;
† wren creeper, a variety of tree-creeper (see
quots.);
wren song, the song carolled by the wren-boys;
wren-tail,
wren's-tail, an artificial fly for trout-fishing;
wren-tit U.S. (see
quot.);
wren-warbler, any of several warblers of the genus
Primia, found in tropical Africa or Asia; also, a brightly coloured wren of the subfamily Malurinæ, found in Australasia.
| 1901 Folk-Lore June 131 A *wren-box from the Pitt Rivers Museum at Farnham. |
| ? a 1800 in Croker Researches in S. Ireland (1824) 233 It won't agree with the *Wren boys at all. 1824 Croker Ibid., A holly bush..having many wrens depending from it..is carried from house to house with some ceremony, the ‘Wren boys’ chaunting several verses. a 1855 in N. & Q. 1st Ser. XII. 489 Song of the Youghal Wren-boys. 1871 Yarrell's Brit. Birds (ed. 4) I. 465 The dead bird, hung by the leg between two hoops,..was carried about by the ‘Wren-boys’ [of Cork]. |
| 1901 Folk-Lore June 131 [He] exhibited a *Wren-bush from co. Wicklow. 1904 Longm. Mag. Oct. 537 The practice of carrying about ‘the wren-bush’ on St. Stephen's Day. |
| 1811 Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 268 *Wren Creeper,..Size of the..Willow Wren. 1822 Latham Gen. Hist. Birds IV. 271 Wren Creeper, Certhia trochilea,..inhabits America. |
| 1696 Aubrey Misc. iv. 44 A whole Parish running like madmen from Hedg to Hedg a *Wren-hunting. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 36 Wren-hunting. [Particulars follow.] 1900 Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 10/1 It used to be a common custom..to make wren-hunting parties a feature of the season from Christmas to New Year. |
| 1965 Auden About House (1966) 13 From gallery-grave and the hunt of a *wren-king to Low Mass and trailer camp is hardly a tick by the carbon clock. |
| 1641 True Char. of Untrue Bishop 4 Witnesse his many Sparrowish, *Wrenlike wanton extravagances. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude v. 207 From those loftiest notes Down to the low and wren-like warblings. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic cxxxi, I'm nobody—a wren-like journalist. |
| 1925 Blunden Eng. Poems 104 *Wren-nested hedges. |
| 1855 N. & Q. 1st Ser. XII. 489 The *Wren Song in Ireland. |
| 1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 40 The *Wren's Tail,..an excellent summer fly. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports 245/2 The Wren's Tail..; legs of a wren's tail⁓feather, used as a hackle. |
| 1867 F. Francis Angling vi. 204 The *Wrentail, Brown Bent, Froghopper. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 38/1 Among the best of these are..the wren-tail, the grouse and partridge hackles. |
| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 79 Chamæidæ; *Wren-tits..much like a titmouse in general appearance,..with the general habits of wrens. |
| 1924 E. C. S. Baker Fauna Brit. India: Birds (ed. 2) II. 530 The Ashy *Wren-Warbler breeds from March to September. 1931 Discovery May 141/2 The tiny new wren warbler..a wee mite of a bird with a tail almost as long as its body. 1955 Mackworth-Praed & Grant Birds E. & N.E. Afr. 392 Wren⁓warblers..occur in both woodland and thorn-scrub. 1974 I. Rowley Bird Life vi. 68 Most Malurus have distinctive and attractive songs so that the name ‘wren-warbler’ is an apt one. |