maidenhair
(ˈmeɪd(ə)nhɛə(r))
Also 6–7 maiden's hair.
[f. maiden n. + hair.]
1. The name of certain ferns having fine hair-like stalks and delicate fronds. a. Adiantum Capillus-veneris, called also black maidenhair or true maidenhair; formerly much used in medicine.
| c 1450 ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 102 Take..verueyne, maydenher [etc.]. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 67, I sau madyn hayr, of the quhilk ane sirop maid of it is remeid contrar the infectione of the melt. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 157 b, Trichomanes (that is our English Maydens heare) is supposed to haue the same vertue that the Lumbardy Maydens heare hath. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccclvii. 982–3 True Maiden haire... The right Maiden haire groweth vpon wals..it is a stranger in Englande... In English black Maiden haire, and Venus haire. 1697 Tryon Way to Health xv. (ed. 3) 368 Take..a pint and half, Tincture of Saffron, and Syrup of Maidenhair. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxxii. (1794) 491 True Maiden-hair..is used or supposed to be so, in the syrup of capillaire. 1887 E. Lyall Knight-Errant (1889) 87 A little lizard..plunged into the maidenhair that fringed the altar. |
b. Asplenium Trichomanes, called also
common maidenhair or
English maidenhair.
| a 1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS. 176 Maydenheer or watir⁓wourt, capillus virginis. 1562 [see a]. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 379 Tricomanes, Polytricon or English Maiden⁓haire hath y⊇ same vertues that Capillus Veneris hath. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccclviii. 984 Of English or common Maiden haire. 1634 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. iii. ii. vii. 144 June in a mantle of darke grasse greene, upon his head a garland of Bents, King-cups, and Maidens haire. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 74/1 The English Maiden-hair is a small spiry stalk with two round leaves fixed to the side [etc.]. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 318 Maiden-hair, English black, Asplenium. |
c. white maidenhair:
Asplenium Ruta-muraria.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccclvii. 983 Wall Rue, or Rue Maiden haire..White Maiden haire. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 115 White Maidenhair.—It is used in Decays of the Lungs. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 318 Maiden-hair, White, Asplenium. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 213. |
2. In other plant-names.
a. golden maidenhair, the moss
Polytrichum commune.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxi. 412 Goldylockes, Polytrichon, or Golden Maydenheare. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxxii. (1794) 493 Greater Golden Maidenhair..is a large sort of moss and abundant in woods, heaths and bogs. |
b. The Lancashire Asphodel,
Narthecium ossifragum (see
quot.).
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal i. lxxi. 96 Another water Asphodill, which..in Lancashire is vsed by women to die their haire of a yellowish colour, and therefore by them it is termed Maiden-haire, if we may beleeue Lobell. |
c. Yellow Bedstraw,
Galium verum.
| 1548 Turner Name of Herbes (E.D.S.) 39 Galion or gallion is named in English in the North countrey Maydens heire. 1562 ― Herbal ii. 6 b. |
d. Ground Ivy,
Nepeta Glechoma.
| 1657 Coles Adam in Eden xxvi. 53 Some Country people that would have the barren Ivy to be the true Ground-Ivy, call the other Maiden-hair. |
† 3. Some textile fabric.
Obs.| 1359 Will of Agnes Selby in Test. Ebor. (Surtees) I. 71 Lego Anabillæ quondam servienti meæ..unam tunicam de maydenhare. |
† 4. ? Some kind of marking on flowers.
Obs.| ? 1607 Day Parl. Bees xi. (1641) G 3 b, July-flowers, and Carnations weare Leaves double streakt with Maiden haire. |
¶ 5. a. In literal sense: A maiden's hair.
rare—1.
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., Dissuas. fr. Idleness, Play not with the maiden-haire For each ringlet there's a snare. |
b. A woman's pubic hair.
| 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley xv. 265 That's where to put forget-me-nots, in the man-hair, or the maiden-hair. a 1930 ― Last Poems (1932) 14 The dim blotch of black maidenhair like an indicator, Giving a message to the man. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
† maidenhair-syrup;
maidenhair fern = 1;
maidenhair grass,
Briza media;
(golden) maidenhair-moss = 2 a;
maidenhair-spleenwort, a book-name for various plants of the genus
Asplenium (see
quot. 1837);
maidenhair-tree, a name for the
ginkgo.
| 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 120/1 The A[diantum] Capillus Veneris, or the *maiden-hair fern. |
| 1640 Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 1165 Gramen tremulum medium. *Maidenhaire grasse, or the lesser quaking grasse. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. clvii. 1371 Muscus capillaris..Goldilocks, or Golden *Maiden haire Mosse. |
| 1837 Macgillivray Withering's Brit. Plants 383 Asplenium Trichomanes. Common *Maidenhair Spleenwort... A. viride. Green Maidenhair Spleenwort... A. Adiantum-nigrum. Black Maidenhair Spleenwort. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. ii. viii. (ed. 2) 183 The a. trichomanes or maiden-hair spleen-wort, is the most delicate of the group. |
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4845/4, 200 half pint Bottles of *Maidenhair Sirrup. |
| 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 338 The Ginkgo, or *Maiden-hair tree, from China,..has been propagated by Mr. Gordon, of Mile-End. 1882 Garden 12 Aug. 145/3 The leaves bear a good deal of resemblance to those of the Maidenhair tree. |