▪ I. † trellis, n.1
Obs.: see treillis.
▪ II. trellis, n.2
(ˈtrɛlɪs)
Forms: 5–6 trelis, -ys, -es(e, 5 -ez, tril(l)es, 5–6 traylles, 6 treliss, -ies, trallace, treylles, trellesse, 7 trellize, treillis, 7–9 trellice, 8 trellies, 6– trellis. pl. 5–6 trelis, -iz; 6 trelesez, treyl(le)sys, trellisses, 7 -izes; 9 -ises. β. Sc. 5 terlys, 6 trelies, traleis, tarlies, traylles, treylles, treilȝeis, (trailzeys), tirleise, -lis, tyrleis, 6–7 tirleis, -lies, 7 tirlace, 8 -lass, -less.
[ME. a. OF. treliz, -is, fem. trelice (orig. adj.):—late pop. L. *trilīci-us, f. L. trilīx, -līcem (in Isidore nom. trilīcis) = Gr. τρίµιτος, having three threads in the warp, f. L. tri- three + līcium a thread of the warp; said of strong woven fabrics (cf. treillis). OF. had also a rarer form tresliz, showing an early confusion of the prefix with OF. tres-:—L. trans-: so Pr. treslitz, It. traliccio, med.L. trans-, trās-, trālīcium, a stout woven fabric. The application of the word to things woven of iron wire, gold, withes, etc. app. brought the sense into contact with OF. treille, Pr. treilla, trelha, med.L. trelia, trillia, etc. (see trail n.2), and resulted in the later F. form treillis and the later signification ‘lattice, grille’. Some of the 16th c. Scottish forms are difficult to distinguish from the pl. of treilȝe, trailye.]
1. a. A structure of light bars of wood or metal crossing each other at intervals and fastened where they cross, with open square spaces between; used as a screen in window openings or the like; a window, gate, screen, etc. so constructed; a lattice; a grating. Now rare.
| a 1400–50 Treles [implied in trellis v. 1]. 1422 Trelys [see trellis-window in 3]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 501/2 Trelys, of a wyndow, or oþer lyke (or grate..), cancellus. 1450–1 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 240 Et in ij Trelis emp. pro fenestra cove, vij d. 1498–9 Ibid. 101 Pro iij fenistris voc. trelez pro Scaccario Cellerarii et le Sethynghous. 1513–14 Ibid. 663 Pro ij trelesez ad ustrinum, vj d. 1531–2 Durham Househ. Bk. (Surtees) 74 Et Roberto Kyrver pro factura le treylsys 8 d. 1532–3 Ibid. 163 Pro factura le treyllesys. 1535 Coverdale Judg. v. 28 His mother..cried piteously thorow the trallace. ― Prov. vii. 6 Out of the wyndowe of my house I loked thorow the trelies. 1549 Aberdeen Regr. (1844) I. 271 Conuikit..for the strublance of Duncane Freser and ryving of his tirleise of his vyndok. 1553–4 Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1871) II. 285 Payit for ane tyrleis of irne to the portell of the counsal hous dure. 1582–8 Hist. James VI (1825) 46 Upoun the wyndo thairof, he..cuttit a small hole of the blak cloth that coverit the traleis. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 49 The Windowes [at Gombroon]..in stead of Glasse vse wooden trellizes or casements. 1641 R. Baillie Lett. (Bann. Cl.) I. 316 (Trial of Strafford) At the back of the throne, there was two roomes on the two sydes; in the one did Duke de Vanden..and other French nobles sitt; in the other, the King, the Queen [etc.]; the tirlies, that made them to be secret, the King brake doun with his own hands; so they satt in the eye of all. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) II. 86 (Passport, Hotel Paris) The bird..attempting his deliverance, and thrusting his head through the trellis, pressed his breast against it, as if impatient. 1886 Sheldon Flaubert's Salammbô 21 Darting..glances through the golden trellisses into the silent apartments. |
† b. An enclosure of lattice-work, a grating.
| c 1500 Melusine lii. 329 Whan they that were in the traylles of yron herd it. 1555–6 Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1871) II. 364 Item, coft vij jestis to be ane tirleis to the deid banis at the south kirk dur. Ibid., Item to Hennislie to cast the deid banis in the west tirleis iij s. 1593 Rites of Durham (Surtees 1903) 37 Y⊇ highte of y⊇ said trellesse was striken full of iron pikes..to thentent y{supt} none should clyme ouer it. |
c. Short for
trellis-door or
-gate: see 3.
Sc.| ? c 1800 State, Fraser of Fraserfield 194 (Jam.) At or near the westmost pole—there is a tirlass, at which a single person may enter. |
d. Her. The figure of a trellis used as a charge.
in trellis, with the pieces of which the charge is composed crossing and nailed at the joints, not interlacing.
| 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxiii, Sable, a musion passant Or, oppressed with a trellis gules, cloué of the second. 1882 Cussans Her. vii. (ed. 3) 120 Portcullis: An iron gate formed of bars armed at the base, and bolted in trellis. 1889 [see trellised 2 b]. |
e. Short for
trellis stitch: see 3.
| 1912 L. F. Pesel Stitches from Old Eng. Embroideries 19 (caption) Trellis with cross-stitch couching. 1921 A. G. I. Christie Samplers & Stitches v. 57 Trellis is used for solid fillings. |
2. A similar framework used as a support upon which fruit-trees or climbing plants are trained.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 100 The wyne grapis ȝing Endlang the treilȝeis [ed. 1553 trailzeys] dyd on twystis hing. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Pomegranate, He must..take Care to plash all the Branches..against a Trellis made on purpose. 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v., Some persons..erect trellises against their walls, extending from the inside of one pier to the nearest inside of the next. 1818 Shelley Let. to Mrs. Shelley 20 Aug., The vines are..trailed on low trellisses of reeds. 1850 Beck's Florist Feb. 59, I always fix the trellis on the pot at the time of potting. |
| fig. 1861 S. Wilberforce Let. in Life (1881) II. xiii. 454 The earthly love becomes the trellice, up which the heavenly love creeps. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent Man 193 Language formed the trellis on which Mind climbed upward. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
trellis-border,
trellis-door,
trellis-frame,
trellis-gate,
trellis-grating,
trellis-hut,
trellis-lace,
trellis-pattern;
trellis-covered,
trellis-shaded,
trellis-woven adjs.;
trellis stitch, in embroidery or knitting, an arrangement of stitches between parallel lines to give a lattice effect;
trellis-window, a window furnished with a trellis; see also
quot. 1913. See also
trellis-work.
| 1897 Daily News 12 Apr. 7/7 A pair of beakers, with baskets and sprays of flowers in *trellis borders. |
| 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. i. 14 The ladies..were conducted by black eunuchs through *trellis-covered walks. |
| 1756 M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Cl.) 219 They's chapells!..and a fine dressed-up Virgin in every one of them, and a *tirless door to let her be seen! 1897 R. N. Bain tr. Jókai's Pretty Michal xxxii. 251 At the stroke of two, she was already in the shop below, the trellis-door of which, leading to the street, was closed. |
| 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Trellis, For peach, nectarine, and apricot trees..the squares of the *trellis frame should not exceed three or four inches. |
| 1697 in Mem. Alloa (1874) 66 To put on a *tirlace gate, with lock and key thereto. 1825 Jamieson (1882), Tirless⁓yett, a turnstile. |
| 1876 B. Champneys in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 238 *Trellis gratings fitted with adjustable valves. |
| 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 289 This saint lived in a *trellis hut. |
| 1874 H. H. Cole Catal. Ind. Art S. Kens. Mus. 173 Bracelet. *Trellis pattern of plain and green glass beads. |
| 1921 A. G. I. Christie Samplers & Stitches v. 57 The thread for working *Trellis stitch should be untwisted for the best effect to be gained. 1974 Guardian 26 Jan. 15/2 Trellis, moss and blackberry stitch by which..Aran mothers recognise their drowned sons. |
| 1422 Searchers Verdicts in Surtees Misc. (1888) 16 The *trelys wyndowe at the somer hall. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 11 So Bothwellhauche shott at him with a hacquebutt, through a tirleis window. 1913 Eden Anc. Glass 51 The branches of the tree or vine seemed to run in and out of a trellis, a circumstance which has given name to such windows—trellis windows. |
| 1751 G. West Education xvii, Labyrinths involv'd and *trellice-woven bow'rs. |
▪ III. trellis, v. (
ˈtrɛlɪs)
Forms: see
prec. [Almost always in pa. pple. trellised (ˈtrɛlɪst),
f. prec. +
-ed.
Cf. F.
treillisé (14th c. in
Godef. Compl.).]
1. trans. To furnish with a trellis or with lattice-work; to enclose in a trellis or grating.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3343 Þe thrid [step] of a Topas a-tyred & trelest & grauen. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 197 A fell lyoun..With in a barrace,..Terlyst in yrn. 1593 Rites of Durham (Surtees 1903) 37 Aboue y⊇ said dor, it was like⁓waies trellessed almoste to y⊇ hight of y⊇ valt aboue. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 61 Windowes trellized very curiously. 1816 Galt Life B. West 92 Near a pile of ruins fringed and trellissed with ivy. 1883 ‘Vernon Lee’ in Mag. Art Nov. 3/1 Two villages, with..paved lanes trellised with grapes. |
| fig. 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi etc. 224 Some love that trelliseth the heart. |
2. intr. To make a trellis.
rare.
| c 1520 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 202 Will'mo Caruer trelyssyng et carvyng per j diem, 6d. |
3. trans. To train (a plant) upon a trellis; to support on or as on a trellis. Also
fig.| 1818 Shelley Jrnl. 26 Mar., The vines..are trellissed upon..stakes. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps iv. §34. 125 The living flowers.. which..the French and Italian peasantry often trellis with exquisite taste about their casements. 1873 E. Brennan Witch of Nemi 5 A virgin round the summers of whose years Love trellissed joys to warp consuming fears. |