▪ I. braid, n.
(breɪd)
Forms: 1 bræᵹd-, brǽd-, bréd-, (1–2 ᵹebreᵹd, ᵹebræᵹd), 3–6 breid(e, 4–5 breyd(e, 4–6 brayd(e, braide, 5–6 brade, 6 (bray), 6–7 breade, 7 (bredd), 4– braid.
[Partly:—OE. bræᵹd- = ON. bragð neut.:—OTeut. bragdo-m, f. str. vb. *bregdan, bragd (see braid v.1), and partly aphet. form of OE. ᵹebreᵹd, f. breᵹdan to braid. All the senses are closely paralleled by those of ON. bragð, which may possibly to some extent have influenced the Eng. word. The archaic brede n.3 used in modern poetry (in sense 4) began as a mere orthographical variant of braid (breade).]
I. Sudden movement.
† 1. A sudden or brisk movement; a start, jerk; a twist, wrench, strain. Obs. [cf. braid v.1 I.]
| [a 1000 Phœnix 57 (Gr.) Nis þær..ne winterᵹeweorp ne wedra ᵹebreᵹd.] 1297 R. Glouc. 22 Þer was mony a strong breid, so þat ribbes þre Þe geant brek of Corineus. a 1300 Cursor M. 7169 Sampson..gaue a braid [v.r. breid] sa fers and fast, Þat all þe bandes of him brast. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1166 Sche waylith and sche makith manye a breyde. c 1430 How Good wife taught Dau. in Babees Bk. (1868) 41 Go þi silf þerto & worche an houswijfes brayde. c 1485 Digby Myst. iii. (1882) 1148 Loke, boy, þou do it with a brayd! 1626 in Hum., Wit & Sat. 17th C. (1883) 384 The woman..gave a braid with her head. |
† b. A sudden assault or onset, an attack. Obs.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1925 Ilk man..Aght to drede þe bitter dedes brayde. c 1430 Syr Gener. 3805 Of that braide Abel was war, That the baner of Perse bare. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. xiii. (1593) 301 To have Ulisses ever as companion at the braid. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcel. xviii. ii. 106 Whither in that doubtfull braid they were driven. |
c. An aim to strike, the launching of a blow; sometimes a blow.
Still in this sense in mod.Scotch.
| ? c 1450 Kyng & Hermit 364 in Hazl. E.P.P. (1864) 26 The frere..gafe the coppe sych a breyd, That well nyh of iȝede. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. Prol. 147 Syne to me wyth his club he maid ane braid. |
† d. fig. An outburst of passion, envy, or anger; a freak, a whim. Obs.
| a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 54 Thei..fytithe ayenst..the braydes of the fyre of lecherye. c 1500 New Notbroune Mayd 435 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 18 His irous brayde Wyll not be layed. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 442/2 He bringeth..onely a rashe maliciouse frantike braide. 1540 R. Hyrde Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) U iv, You women..weene to gouverne..nations with the braids of your stomackes. |
† 2. transf. [Cf. ON. auga-bragð ‘twinkling of an eye’, moment.] A moment, short space of time. In the phrases at, in a braid the meaning varies between 1 and 2. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16722 Þe toþer theif him gaf ansuer, and blamed him a-braid. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 539 Vche best at a brayde [hyȝez] þer hym best lykez. a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 231 He wylle byn here within a brayde. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 78 ‘Owt upon the, thefe!’ sche seyde in that brayde. 1592 Chester Pl. (1847) II. 155 Now goe we forthe all in a breade. 1657 Trapp Comm. Job xlii. 16 For a short braid of adversity. |
II. A trick, deception.
† 3. An adroit turn; a trick or subtilty. (Cf. braid v.1 II.; ON. bregðask to change unexpectedly, disappoint, deceive; OE. bræᵹd-boᵹa a deceitful bow; also F. tour a ‘turn,’ a trick). Obs.
| [c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 22 ᵹebræᵹdas ðæra wlenca underdelfes þæt word.] a 1000 Thorpe Laws I. 160 (Bosw.) He hit dyde butan brede [v.r. bræde] and biᵹswice. c 1250 Bestiary 672 in O.E. Misc. 21 Ðis elp he reisen on stalle; and tus atbrested ðis huntes breid. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 164 Full stille away he went, þat was a theues braid. 1570 Redforde Songs (1848) 60 Beware, good maides, Of all such braydes. |
III. Plait.
4. Anything plaited, interwoven, or entwined; esp. A plait of human hair. In 19th c. sometimes applied to the flat bands of hair, worn at one time by ladies over the side of the face, as in early portraits of Queen Victoria.
| 1530 Palsgr. 200/2 Braydes of a womans heer, tresses. 1564 Golding Justine 54 (R.) [Alexander] cutte the wrethes [of the Gordian knot] a sonder with a sworde, and..found the ends of the knottes wythin the braides. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol iii. (1749) 163 Her plaited Hair behind her in a Brede Hung careless. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge (1859) 272 Her hair plaited in three distinct braids that hung down her back. 1864 Soc. Sc. Rev. The hair is done up in a braid at the back. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. i. 11 Wearing on her brow thin braids of false hair. |
b. Since the 17th c. the variant brede has been used poetically in the sense of ‘plait’, and modern writers also use braid in the transferred and vague senses, mentioned under brede n.3 3.
| [1643 Milton Divorce vi. Wks. (1851) 33 His silk'n breades untwine, and slip their knots. 1697 Dryden Ess. Georg., Virg. (1721) I. 201 A curious Brede of Needle-work.] 1708 I. Philips Cyder (1807) 88 And puzzles the beholder's eye That views the wat'ry braid. c 1800 K. White Contempl. 71 We'll watch, in eve's ethereal braid. c 1818 Heber To Hairbell, Most I love thine [the hairbell's] azure braid. 1856 Bryant Ages xxvi, All blended, like the rainbow's radiant braid. |
5. A string or band with which the hair is confined or entwined.
| 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. Epil. 12 But curle their lockes with bodkins and with braids. 1634 Milton Comus 863 In twisted braids of lilies knitting The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair. 1717 Pope Sappho & P. 85 Nor braids of gold the varied tresses bind. 1799 Coleridge Dark Ladie, My jet black hair in pearly braids. 1816 Scott Jock o' Hazeld. iii, A chain of gold ye sall not lack Nor braid to bind your hair. 1830 Tennyson Day-Dream 82 Jet-black hair..streaming from a braid of pearl. |
6. mod. A woven fabric of silken, woollen, cotton, gold or silver thread in the form of a band, used for trimming or binding articles of dress.
| 1706 Phillips, Braid, a small Lace, a Chain, or Edging. 1868 Ladies' Treasury 9 Morning dress..trimmed in pattern with black mohair braid. 1882 Beck Draper's Dict., Braid..not properly solely applicable to the fillet or binding which the name now represents. |
b. A narrow flat band woven of linen thread, with an open-work border on each side, used to form the outline of the pattern in point-lace work. Honiton braids: braids intended for use in making Honiton lace.
| 1874 Cassell's Househ. Guide I. 225 The materials required will be..several yards of point lace braid. 1886 Daily News 17 May 3/6 Honiton braids are dull of sale. |
7. Comb. as braid-comb, ‘a back comb for a lady's hair.’
▪ II. † braid, a. (or ppl. a.) Obs. rare—1.
(breɪd)
[Of doubtful meaning and origin; perh. short for braided in some sense; cf. OE. breᵹden, deceitful, also braidie a.]
? Deceitful.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. ii. 73 Since Frenchmen are so braide, Marry that will, I liue and die a Maid. |
▪ III. braid, v.1
(breɪd)
Pa. tense and pple. braided. Forms: 1 breᵹdan, (bræᵹdan), brédan, 3 breden, 3–4 breide(n, 4–5 breyde, 4–6 brayd(e, (5 brede, 5–7 brade, 8 dial. breead), 5– braid. pa. tense 1 bræᵹd, brǽd, pl. bruᵹdon, br{uacu}don, 3 bræid, breod, pl. brudden, 3–4 breid(e, 4 brede, 4–5 breyde, 4–6 braid(e, brayd(e, 5–6 brayed, brayded, 7 bred, bradde, 4– braided. pa. pple. 1 broᵹden, bróden, 3–5 broiden, 4 brayden, brawden, browden, 4–6 broyden, 5 brait, -ed, brayded, 7 breaded, 8– braided, dial. breed.
[Com. Teut.: OE. breᵹdan (pa. tense bræᵹd, bruᵹdon, pple. broᵹden) = OS. bregdan (MDu. breiden, Du. breien), OHG. brettan (MHG. bretten), ON. bregða:—OTeut. *bregd-an (extended from *breg-), with root-meaning ‘to pull quickly hither and thither, to move suddenly to and fro’. In OE. the ᵹ of the root was often omitted, with lengthening of the vowel (brédan, brǽd, br{uacu}don, bróden), but the diphthongal form (breyde, etc.) prevailed in ME. The pa. pple. had in 13–15th c. the form broyden, in 14–16th browden, sometimes in 14–15th c. brawden; the phonetic history of which presents some difficulties. By 1400 the original strong pa. tense was displaced by the weak brayded, which in the 15th c. had also extended to the pa. pple., though browden continued in Sc. at least till 1600. From the strong forms of the pa. pple. appear to have arisen the newer synonymous weak verbs broid, browd, brawde q.v.; see also broider, browder, brawder.]
I. To make a sudden jerky movement (originally off or away to one side).
† 1. trans. To make a sudden movement with (the hand, foot, etc.); to brandish (a spear); to deal (a blow). In OE. const. with instrumental case, afterwards treated as simple object. Obs.
| a 1000 Beowulf 1033 Þær ᵹit..mundum bruᵹdon. c 1300 K. Alis. 7373 On a stede wel y-dyght: He ryt his spere braydyng. c 1325 Coer de L. 411 Another stroke he hym brayde. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 75 The Wolfe braid foorth his fute, the Man his hand. c 1505 Dunbar in Maitland Poems 5 (Jam.) I wald na langer beir on brydil, bot braid up my heid. |
† 2. To draw (a sword, knife, etc.). (Const. orig. with instrumental case as in 1; cf. ON. bregða sverði; but in later OE. app. regarded as an application of sense 3.) Obs.
| [Beowulf 3333 Ic þy wæpne ᵹebræd.] a 1000 Battle of Maldon 163 Byrhtnoð bræd bill of scæðe. c 1205 Lay. 15260 Heo breoden ut þe sæxes. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 229 Þe envenomed knyfe out braid, & gaf Edward a wounde. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 30 Out of his breste ane bill can hee braid. c 1500 Felon Sewe Rokeby in Bell Anc. Ballads (1857) Hee brayded out hys brande. |
† 3. To jerk, snatch, wrench, fling, etc., with a sudden effort; freq. with up, down, out. Obs.
| a 1000 Battle of Maldon 154 Se..bræd of ðæm beorne blodiᵹne gar. c 1200 Trin. Col. Hom. 217 Ich triste þat he..wille of þis werȝes grune mine fet breiden. 1297 R. Glouc. 22 A gret ok he wolde breide a doun, as it a smal ȝerde were. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 1678 Oute hys trumpe of golde he brayde..and set it to his mouth. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xxiv. [xxv.] 15 He schal breide awey my feet fro the snare [1382 he shal pullen up]. a 1400 Octouian 461 And breyde away with hard roun The grypes wynge. |
† b. Naut. to braid up (the sails). Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1945 [He] braid vp a brode saile, hade brethe at his wille. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 40 Brade vp close all them sailes. |
† 4. To deliver with a brisk action. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 711 Burnez her barnez vnto hym brayde. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2377 He..brayde broþely þe belt to þe burne seluen. |
† 5. intr. To start, usually out of sleep or a swoon; to awake; also to start or burst into motion; to rush, spring, or dart; fig. to start (‘out of one's wit’); also used refl. in same sense. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 26454 Walwain bræid to sweorden. a 1300 Havelok 1282 Of his slep a-non he brayd. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 299 For angre sche braid hure wel neȝ wod. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 299 ffor verray wo out of his wit he breyde. c 1440 Generydes 165 Right sodenly he brayded and he wooke. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 20 They braded ouer the bent, As fire off flint. 1513 Douglas æneis i. ii. 51 Furth at the ilk port wyndis braid in a rowt. 1603 Philotus cxxix, Quhat is the mater..Quhat garris yow braid? |
† b. trans. To rouse, startle. Obs. rare.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 1169 Þat brathe out of my drem me brayde. |
† 6. intr. To break forth abruptly into speech; to burst into a cry. Obs.
| c 1000 Guthlac 878 (Gr.) Wop ahofon, hleoðrum bruᵹdon. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2072 The lyon..brayded als he had bene wode. a 1547 Earl of Surrey æneid iv. 476 And foorth in rage at last thus gan she brayde. |
† b. trans. To ejaculate, burst out with. Obs.
| 1562 Leigh Armorie 166 His irefull hart straight braided out wrothful wordes. |
II. To change suddenly or abruptly.
† 7. intr. To make a change. Const. with instrumental case (cf. ON. bregða b{uacu}i, tiöldum, to change one's abode, strike tents). Only in OE.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Exodus 222 (Gr.) Brudon feldhusum [= they struck their tents]. |
† 8. intr. To change in colour or appearance. In OE. with instrumental case (or on = into). Obs. Cf. braided b.
| a 1000 Salomon & Sat. 150 (Gr.) Næfre hie ðæs syllice bleoum breᵹdað. a 1000 Guthlac 882 (Gr.) Bruᵹdon eft awyrᵹdo wærloᵹan on wyrmes bleo. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iii. i. (1554) 69 b, With thy giftes who that hath to done Of chaunges braideth ofter than the Mone. ― Min. Poems 24 All worldly thing braidith upon tyme. |
† 9. refl. To assume an appearance, act a part.
| c 1205 Lay. 6667 Þe king hine bræid [c 1275 breid] sæc alse þeah hit seoð weore. |
† 10. intr. to braid of, formerly braid after, braid on: to take after, resemble, be like. Still dial. [Cf. ON. bregðr einum til eins.]
| c 1205 Lay. 6895 Wel he braid [c 1275 dude] on deade efter his alderen. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iii. xxi. 93 b, Which froward monster..Braydeth on Hidra. c 1505 Dunbar Discr. in Asking 13 Sum schamis to ask, as braidis of me. 1691 Ray N.C. Wds., Breid of, Brade of, to be like in conditions: ‘Ye breid of the miller's dog; ye lick your mouth or the poke be ope’. 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘You breead o' me, you don't like noise’. |
III. To pull a thread to and fro, intertwine. [A Common Teutonic sense.]
11. trans. To twist in and out, intertwine, interweave, plait; to embroider; to make (a garland, cord, fabric) by intertwining, twisting, or plaiting. (Now in ordinary Eng. only poet. or dial. except as applied to the hair, in which use it appears to be now interpreted as ‘to arrange in braids’.)
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxviii. §5. 176 Plecto, ic brede net. a 1225 Ancr. R. 236 For pine..he breideð þe crune of blisse. a 1250 Owl & Night. 645 Mi nest..is broiden al abute. a 1300 Cursor M. 1008 Wit blis and beild broiden best. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 237 They taughten him a lace to braide. 1530 Palsgr. 471/1, I broyde heare, or a lace, or suche lyke. Je tortille, Brayde your heare up. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies iii. iii. 475 They are Plaited and Breaded in the same Twine. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty v. 28 Part of the hair of their heads, braided together from behind. 1848 A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 211 The rich golden hair partly braided. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxii. 249 They [the nets for eel-sets] are braided or made in the winter. 1884 Harper's Mag. July 303/1 She..wove rag carpets.. braided rugs, etc. |
b. transf. To ‘thread the mazes’ of the dance; to cross and recross.
| 1813 Scott Trierm. iii. xxi, When the whirlwind's gusts are wheeling, Ours it is the dance to braid. 1875 B. Taylor Faust xxi. I. 181 Here winds away, and in a hundred divided veins the valley braids. |
IV. [Mod. f. braid n. 5 and 6.]
12. trans. To bind or confine (the hair) with a braid or ribbon, or something equivalent. (Retained by modern poets from braid the hair in sense 11, but applied in another sense.)
| 1793 Southey Triumph. Wom. 31 With roseate wreaths they braid the glossy hair. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. v, Yet ne'er again to braid her hair The virgin snood did Alice wear. 1813 ― Rokeby iii. xxviii, A weary lot is thine, fair maid..To pull the thorn thy brow to braid. |
13. trans. a. To ornament or trim with braid. b. To outline (a design for point-lace work) by means of braid (see braid n. 6 b). c. To manufacture braid; to weave (material) into braid (see also braider, braiding-machine).
| 1848 C. M. Yonge Abbeychurch xi. 232 You have been six months braiding that frock. 1874 Cassell's Househ. Guide I. 225 When the whole design has been braided. Mod. ‘They braid slippers for curates.’ |
▪ IV. † braid, v.2 Obs.
[Prob. aphetic f. abraid v.2, upbraid; but as ON. bregða was used in this meaning, it may perhaps be a sense of braid v.1]
trans. To upbraid, reproach.
| c 1325 Body & Soul 257 in Map's Poems (1841) 343 Thou..me thus breidest of myn un-hap. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 49 Breydyn or vpbreydyn, impropero. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius viii. 8 Thou wilt braid me with the saving of his life. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 56 Better dissemble it..Than to broide him with it. 1608 Shakes. Per. i. i. 93 'Twould 'braid yourself too near for me to tell it. |
▪ V. braid, v.3
[App. a dial. corruption of bray v.2, by confusing brayed, braid, braided. Given by Forby and Halliwell as East Anglian. Not in Bailey, nor Johnson; taken app. from Halliwell into Webster and other recent Dicts.]
trans. To intermix; ‘to mingle by rubbing in some fluid or soft substance’.
| 1853 Hints Yng. Housewives 31 The plain old-fashioned starch..is braided up with cold water. Ibid. 118 Braid a teaspoonful of flour with a little of the cream. |
▪ VI. braid
obs. and Sc. f. broad.
▪ VII. braid
obs. f. bread and brede breadth.