▪ I. garden, n.
(ˈgɑːd(ə)n)
Forms: 4 garthen, (6 -yne, -ynge), 4–7 gardin(e, -yn(e, (5–6 Sc. -ing, -yng), 4–6 gardain, -ayn(e, -ein(e, -eyn(e, (6 gardene, Sc. gairden, -ing), 6– garden.
[a. ONF. gardin (Central F. jardin):—pop. L. *gardīn-um, f. *gard-um (OF. gard, gart, jart, garden) a. Teut. *gardo-z (Goth. gard-s, OHG. gart, OS. gard, OE. ᵹeard, ON. garð-r, enclosure: see garth and yard). The Teut. langs. have also a wk. form, with the special sense ‘garden’: OFris. garda, OS. gardo (Du. gaarde), OHG. garto (MHG. garte, mod.G. garten). Cf. Pr. gardi, jardi, jerzi, and jardina fem. (also Sp. jardin, Pg. jardim, It. giardino, which appear to be adoptions from Fr. or Pr.).]
I. 1. a. An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit, or vegetables; often preceded by some defining word, as flower-, fruit-, kitchen-, market-, strawberry-garden, etc.
| 13.. K. Alis. 1028 With samytes, and baudekyns Weore cortined the gardynes. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 260 Your perle is..in þis gardyn gracios gaye, Here-inne to lenge for euer & play. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 765 Yif me a plante of thilke blissed tre And in my gardyn planted it shal bee. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxi. 118 (Harl. MS.) The knight..yede abowte in the gardin, and soute the clewe, & fonde it. 1513 More Rich. III Wks. 53/2 My lord you haue very good strawberies at your gardayne in Holberne. 1522 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 106 The garthynges and Orchard perteyning thereto. 1577 Harrison England ii. xx. (1878) i. 323, I comprehend therefore vnder the word ‘garden’, all such grounds as are wrought with the spade by mans hand. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 81 Ile fetch a turne about the Garden. 1680–90 Temple Ess. Gardening Wks. 1731 I. 174 The Use of Gardens seems to have been the most ancient and most general of any sorts of Possession among Mankind. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 356 The garden is on a slope, or gentle declivity; and very much resembles prince Eugene's garden. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. ii. 29, I doubt not the flowers of that garden sweet Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. iii. (1858) 191 Eastern gardens..are not flower gardens, nor private gardens, but the orchards, vineyards or fig enclosures round a town. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 36 A wall picture of an ancient Egyptian garden has been preserved. |
| fig. a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol., Þis boke is cald garthen closed, wel enseled. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love i. xxx. 65 Þe saule truly þat boyth is sweyt be schynynge of consciens, & fayr be charite of endles lufe, cristis gardyn may be cald. |
b. pl. Ornamental grounds, used as a place of public resort, usually with some defining word, as
Botanic(al,
Zoological Gardens, etc.
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 73/2 Rivalling these imperial structures are the gardens of St. Petersburg. 1884 Scotsman 29 Jan. 2, I have just returned from my usual stroll in the Botanical Gardens. |
c. transf. Applied to a region of remarkable fertility.
the Garden of England: a name given to various counties,
esp. Kent and Worcestershire.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 4, I am arriu'd for fruitful Lombardie, The pleasant garden of great Italy. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Smith 5 Aug., The whole country appears a large garden. 1885 Farjeon Sacred Nugget i. vii, ‘Yes, sir, Kent's my county, but even in the garden of England they can't grow finer roses than them’. |
d. to cultivate one's garden [after Voltaire
Candide (1759) xxx, ‘Il faut cultiver notre jardin’], to attend to one's own affairs.
| [1759 tr. Voltaire's Candid xxx. 132 All that is very well, answered Candid, but let us take care of our garden.] 1931 O. W. Holmes Let. 7 May (1964) 324 It would be a bore to be ill abroad and I suppose there would be a good chance of being so. I will cultivate my garden. 1933 L. Strachey Characters & Comm. i. ii. 13 The precept ‘Il faut cultiver notre jardin’ has come down to the degenerate descendants of Candide in the form of ‘Have an eye to the main chance’—a very different exhortation. The twentieth century has learned to cultivate its garden so well that it makes a profit of ten per cent. 1955 R. M. MacIver Pursuit of Happiness iv. 35 We must cultivate our own garden and find the joy of doing it in our own hearts. |
e. Colloq. phr. everything in the garden is lovely, the situation is perfectly satisfactory; all is well.
| [1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 125/1 Everything is nice in your garden, a gentle protest against self-laudation... This is said to be derived from one of the young princesses (probably a daughter of the Princess Beatrice) who made this reply when something in her garden at Osborne was praised by Her Majesty.] 1910 ‘G. B. Lancaster’ Jim of Ranges v. 110 You're all right, 'n I'm aw right..'n ev'y thing'n the garden's lovely. 1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea v. 71 The financial outlook's lovely. It's lovely, Mr. Marsham. Yes, everything in the garden's lovely, as Marie Lloyd used to sing. 1939 O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 56 Everything in the garden, to use a contemporary phrase, was lovely. And then..the prevailing optimism received a shock. 1941 A. Christie Evil under Sun ii. 30 Then everything in the garden—or shall we say at the seaside?—is lovely, Mademoiselle. 1969 Guardian 13 Feb. 4/3 But not everything in the garden was lovely and the public, in particular, was not sure what higher education was for. |
f. to lead (someone) up the garden (-path), to lead on, entice; mislead, deceive.
colloq.| 1925 E. Mannin Sounding Brass i. viii, They're cheats, that's wot women are! Lead you up the garden and then go snivellin' around 'cos wot's natcheral 'as 'appened to 'em. 1927 G. D. H. & M. Cole Murder at Crome House ix. 94 To lead Flint up the garden-path and relieve him of his cash. 1957 I. Murdoch Sandcastle ii. 29 I'm going to lead her up the garden. I've got her thoroughly foxed so far. 1963 Times 29 Jan. 12/6, I made these confessions to lead the police up the garden path. |
2. a. Short for
Covent-garden,
Hatton-garden (
quot. 1890), localities in London.
| 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 415 A fashionable coffee-house in the neighbourhood of the Garden. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 81 Not only is the ‘Garden’ itself all bustle and activity, but [etc.]. 1884 J. Payn Some Lit. Recollect. iv. in Cornh. Mag. Mar. 257 She [Miss O'Neill] talked of ‘the Garden’ and ‘the Lane’ and was very fond of recitation. 1890 Tit Bits 29 Mar. 389/2 The cut stones are chiefly sold to the large dealers in the ‘Garden’. |
b. pl. Often used with some local prefix as the name of a square or street, in the suburbs of London, and (by imitation) in many other towns.
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lx, ‘Gardens’ was a felicitous word not applied to stucco houses with asphalte terraces in front, so early as 1827. |
3. As a name for the school of Epicurus (who taught in a garden).
Diog. Laert. uses οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν κήπων as a name for the sect;
cf. also Cicero,
horti Epicuri.
| 1867 M. Pattison Serm. (1885) 164 [Neither] the Porch, the Garden, nor the Academy. |
II. attrib. and
Comb. 4. a. simple
attrib. (
= of or belonging to a garden, for use in a garden), as
garden-alley,
garden-bed,
garden-bench,
garden-book,
garden-bower,
garden-boy,
garden-close,
garden-court,
garden-croft,
garden-door,
garden-earth,
garden-fence,
garden-field,
garden-hat,
garden-hedge,
garden-island,
garden-islet,
† garden-knot,
garden-lawn,
garden-matter,
garden-mould,
garden-order,
garden-pale,
garden-rake,
garden-refuse,
garden-scissors,
garden-seed,
garden-shade,
garden-shears,
garden soil,
garden-tillage,
garden-tool,
garden umbrella,
garden-walk,
garden-wall,
garden-wicket;
b. objective, as
garden-watering vbl. n.;
garden-loving adj.;
c. instrumental, as
garden-girdled,
garden-surrounded adjs. Also
garden-like adj.;
garden-ward(s,
garden-wise advs.| 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi. 120 The Flowry Vallies..lying sleeke and smooth, as any *Garden-Allies. |
| 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church Milit. 127 Here Sinne took heart, and for a *garden-bed Rich shrines and oracles he purchased. 1881 Rossetti Ball. & Sonn., King's Trag. (1882) 128 Couched on the happy garden-bed. |
| 1863 Landor Heroic Idylls, Meliton & Lily 5 Sit on this *garden-bench and hear a song. |
| 1903 Bookman XXV. 61/1 The volume now before us comes opportunely as a justification of what has grown to be called a ‘*garden book’. 1906 A. Bennett Let. 6 Mar. (1966) I. 70, I expect another is his garden-book. 1937 A. Lamplugh (title) The garden book. |
| 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vii. xviii, In the *Garden-bower the Bride And Bride-maids singing are. |
| 1936 Discovery Aug. 243/1 The common Kenya *garden-boy—whom I have known to plant a cherished seedling upside down, and then thoughtfully water it. 1951 D. Lessing This was Old Chief's Country i. 12 Working in our house as servants were always three natives: cook, houseboy, garden boy. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 277 Who will fetch from *garden-closes Some new garlands while I speak? |
| 1800 Misc. Tracts in Asiatic Ann. Reg. 98/1 To the north of the Sungee Dalaun is another *garden court, containing public offices. |
| 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxii. 48 Look in a *garden-croft when a flower privily growing [etc.]. |
| 1502–3 Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 20 *Gardeyn dore. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 103. |
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth (1723) 13 That blackish Layer of Earth or Mould which is called by some *Garden-Earth. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Char. Wks. (Bohn) II. 57, I suppose never nation built their party-walls so thick, or their *garden-fences so high. |
| 1837 J. E. Murray Summer Pyrenees II. 85 His own particular moulin, in which he grinds the produce of his *garden-field. |
| 1882 Ouida Maremma I. 1 The cathedral square of *garden-girdled Grosseto. |
| 1857 Dickens Dorrit I. xxviii. 246 In her simple *garden-hat. 1967 E. Taylor Second Thursday iii. 39 Anna's garden hat..lay at the bottom of the steps. |
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 569 To make a *gardyn hegge. |
| a 1746 Holdsworth On Virgil (1768) 89 Our old willows..particularly some in the *Garden-Island in St. James' Park. |
| 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. v, Till through elysian *garden-islets..The boat of my desire is guided. |
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §111 In *Garden-knots, and the Frets of Houses, and all equall and well answering Figures. |
| 1845 Zoologist III. 1056 Those pests, that raise such unsightly balls of earth upon *garden-lawns. |
| 1829 Lytton Devereux iii. iv, I had entered into a more wooded and *garden-like description of country. 1838–42 Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) I. ii. 35 Its garden-like farms. |
| 1851 Beck's Florist 243 In this condition they are purchased by persons having *garden-loving friends at home. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 49 To shew me some part of your great knowledge in *Garden matters. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. 131 They [Hops] delight most in the rich black *Garden-mold, that is deep and light, and that is mixed rather with Sand than Clay. 1782 Marshall in Phil. Trans. LXXIII. 221 One I find laid up in the fold of a..turnip leaf was..formed by putting..garden mould to them. |
| 1792 A. Young Trav. France 5 Nothing can be more beautiful, or kept in more *garden order, if I may use the expression. |
| 1828–40 Berry Encycl. Her. I, *Garden-pales are sometimes borne in coat-armour, generally issuing from the base and fitchée, or pointed at the top, and conjoined. 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. vi, Our garden-pales ran parallel with the high road. |
| 1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. (1744) Aug. xvi. 83 A man with a *Garden-rake raked in Cole-seed all over it. 1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens 60 A light garden-rake. |
| 1868 Peard Water-farm. xv. 159 Chopped *garden-refuse..will answer admirably. |
| 1832 Miss Mitford Village Ser. v. (1863) 433 It turned out to be only the clinking of a pair of *garden-scissars. |
| 1605 J. Rosier Voy. G. Waymouth (1887) 105 We..digged a plot of ground, wherein, amongst some *garden seeds, we sowed peaze and barley. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xviii, Some garden-seed. |
| a 1711 Ken Preparatives Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 92, I to a *Garden-Shade withdrew. |
| 1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi iii. 5 Thrift..may be kept, being cut with a paire of *Garden sheeres. 1708 Motteux Rabelais V. ix. (1737) 36 A Pair of Garden-shears. |
| 1848 Cultivator V. 213, I..potted it in common *garden soil. 1875 Mrs. Stowe We & Neighbors ii. 20 Catnip..which grew in a bit of garden soil back of the house. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 63/2 Loams, garden soils. |
| 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne II. vii. 170 The secluded *garden-surrounded villa, in Old Kensington. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. ii. 106 Peas and Beans are what belong to *Garden Tillage as well as that of the Field. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 190 Cleanse, mend, sharpen..*Garden Tools. 1832 Tennyson New-Year's Eve xii, She'll find my garden-tools upon the granary floor. |
| 1907 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 238/3 *Garden Umbrella..with brass jointed stem, 6 ft. long..with spike to screw into the ground. 1970 Times 28 May 8/1 In Sweden..one household in 15 owns..a garden umbrella. 1971 E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 10 Apr. 2/1 (Advt.), Garden umbrellas—picnic sets—safari mattresses. |
| 1757 Dyer Fleece iii. 132 And now he strains the warp Along the *garden-walk, or highway side. 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 17 She looks down the garden-walk caverned with trees. |
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 202 The grete tour..Was evene ioynant to the *gardin-wal. 1582 Breton Flourish Fancie (Grosart) 54/1 Let, Lord, this tree be set within thy Garden-wall Of Paradise. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne I. i. 9 The garden-wall of the..house. |
| c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 386 Unto the *gardin-ward. |
| 1895 Crockett in Cornh. Mag. Oct. 348 He..showed signs of moving *gardenwards. |
| 1896 Daily News 27 July 4/3 The period of supply could be extended if the consumers would only be careful..to abstain from *garden-watering and other..wasteful habits. |
| 1826 in Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 50, I rode up to the *garden-wicket of a cottage. |
| 1885 Burton Arab. Nts. (1887) III. 134 Its courtyard is laid out *garden-wise. |
5. a. Applied to vegetables, with the sense ‘cultivated or growing in a garden’, often distinctively opposed to ‘wild’; as
garden-creeper,
garden-flower,
garden-fruit,
garden-herb,
garden-plant,
garden-tree,
garden-vegetable,
garden-weed; also in plant-names, indicating cultivated kinds, as
† garden-basil,
garden-gilliflower,
garden-honesty,
garden-madder,
garden-mint,
garden-nightshade,
garden-pea,
garden-pine,
garden-poppy,
garden-rocket,
garden-succory;
† garden-balsam (see
quot.);
garden-clover,
Melilotus cærulea (see
clover n. 2);
garden-cress,
-cresses,
Lepidium sativum (see
cress 1 a);
garden-ginger, cayenne pepper;
† garden-globe, a sort of apple;
† garden-rod, ?
= golden-rod;
† garden-sperage, asparagus;
garden-trefoil (see
clover n. 2 and
quot. 1548 there).
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. 1195 The gardiners and herbe women in Cheapside commonly call it [Trifolium odoratum] and know it by the name of Balsam, or *garden Balsam. |
| 1674 Hickman Quinquart. Hist. Ep. (ed. 2) A iv, Some in old times..thought *Garden-Basil..would grow the sooner and better, if it were sown..with reproaches and evil speaking. 1548, 1626 *Garden Claver [see clover n. 2]. |
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Lost Bower liii, Never *garden-creeper crossed it With so deft and brave an air. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 58 *Garden cresses..are sowed in the Spring. 1713 J. Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 202 This is a very elegant Plant, its lower Leaves being deeply cut, finer than the common Garden Cress. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 304 Garden Cress..mixed with the young leaves of mustard..is the most esteemed of all..salads. |
| 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 138 Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, And still where many a *garden-flower grows wild. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxii, The garden-flowers perfumed the air with delicious odours. |
| c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 29/1 *Gardeynes frutes is there muche gretter than in our landes of Europa. |
| 1551 Turner Herbal 83 The roote of the *gardyn Gelouer is good agaynst the plage. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal Supp., *Garden Ginger is Piperitis. |
| 1600 Surflet Country Farme iii. xlix. 528 The shortstart..hony-meale and *garden globe..rare and singular apples. |
| 1563 T. Hill Garden. (1593) 164 The wilde hearbs are stronger in vertue then the *garden hearbs. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 33 Beete is a Gardain Herbe, and in good plentie with vs. |
| 1715 J. Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXIX. 243 Its Root or lower Leaves, in Shape, resemble *Garden Honesty. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. lxxiii. 537 The husbanded or *garden Madder. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 224/1 *Gardyne meynte, meynte. 1831 J. Davies Man Mat. Med. 433 Garden mint, Mentha gentilis, Lin. 1657 *Garden Night-shade [see 5 c]. 1882 Garden 16 Dec. 532/3 The Garden Nightshade..is a common annual weed. |
| 1681 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 558 In the ..months of Dec. and Jan. were *garden pees in blossom. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 215 Garden peas..are raised by more careful and expensive culture for the purpose of being eaten green. |
| a 1746 Holdsworth On Virgil (1768) 533 He mentions the Pinus, which he calls Culta, meaning thereby the *Garden pine, to distinguish it from the Sylvestris. |
| 1727 S. Switzer Pract. Gardiner v. xlv. 237 Of this phaseolus..more species, than of any other *garden plant we have transmitted to us from foreign parts. |
| 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxii. 416 *Garden Poppy, is narcoticke, provokes sleep, outwardly it easeth pain. |
| 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 306 *Garden Rocket..cultivated by our ancestors..still..found in gardens on..the Continent. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 361 All sorts of fibrous rooted Plants..such as Holyoaks, *Garden-rods..and Hieraciums. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 54 The *Garden Sperage they were not acquainted with. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 53 If a man be annointed with Asparagus or garden-Sperage..there will not (by report) a Bee come neere for to sting him. |
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 44 Intybus hortensis is of two sortes, the one is called Endyue, or whyte Endyue, and the other is called *gardine Succory. |
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §517 Whatsoeuer will make a Wild Tree a *Garden-Tree, will make a Garden-Tree to haue lesse Core, or Stone. 1775 Sheridan Rivals iii. iii, Like garden-trees, they seldom shew fruit. |
| 1818 T. G. Fessenden Ladies Monitor 171 Provincial words [include]:..bete for beet, a *garden vegetable. 1841 N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. I. 152 The Netherlanders..have introduced every kind of garden vegetables. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal Hort. (1729) 189 Knot-grass, the very worst of *Garden-weeds. |
b. Prefixed to the names of animals, birds, and insects to indicate that their habitat is the garden; as
garden-ant,
garden-ousel,
garden-snail,
garden-worm;
garden-mouse, ?
= field-mouse;
garden-spider = cross-spider (see
cross- B);
garden-warbler, the bird
Sylvia hortensis;
garden-white, a white cabbage butterfly, of the genus
Pieris.
| 1879 Lubbock Sci. Lect. iv. 134 The brown *garden-ant habitually makes use of the out-of-doors aphides. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 173 The *Garden-Mouse is an Animal that digs the Earth like a Mole. |
| a 1691 Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 231 For I have observed these two last dry springs, that there has been no soft *garden snails to be found abroad. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1784) VII. i. 3 This is the garden-snail, that carries its box upon its back. |
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 359 The labour of the *Garden Spider is very different from that of the former species. |
| 1843 Zoologist I. 13 In the spring of 1841 the redstart..and *garden warbler were very numerous. |
| 1892 Daily News 6 Oct. 5/1 The caterpillars of the *Garden White—the green grubs that do so much damage among the cabbages—are crawling up the walls. |
| 1651–7 T. Barker Art of Angling (1820) 37 Gather great *garden-worms. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 258 The Garden-worm is an excellent bait for a Salmon. |
c. passing into
adj., in the slang
phr. common or garden, a jocular substitute for ‘common’, ‘ordinary’.
| [1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xxix. 59 But the Common or Garden Nightshade is not dangerous.] 1892 Autobiog. Eng. Gamekeeper (J. Wilkins) 67 It was as large as a common—or garden—hen. 1896 Daily News 16 Oct. 3/4 Such common or garden proceedings not being to the taste of Noa. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 4 Aug. 8/2, I have—to make use of a common or garden expression—been ‘rushed’ in this matter. |
6. Special comb.:
garden-butt, a target set up in a garden for archery practice;
garden carpet, (
a) a species of Geometer moth (
cf. carpet-moth); (
b) (see
quots. 1960 and 1963);
garden centre, a place where gardening requirements are sold;
garden-chair,
† (
a) a wheel or bath chair; (
b) a chair intended for use in a garden;
garden city, (
a) a name given to Chicago and certain other cities (
freq. with capital initials); (
b) a town of limited size, surrounded by a wide rural or agricultural belt, and planned so as to combine the advantages of town and country;
Garden Colony, a name given to Natal, on account of the wealth and beauty of its flora;
garden county U.S., the county (of a state) most resembling a garden; the most fertile and beautiful part;
garden-craft, the management of gardens; gardening;
garden egg, a Jamaican name for the egg-plant or its fruit;
garden-engine, a portable force-pump used for watering gardens;
garden-frame = frame n. 13 c;
garden-glass, (
a) a bell glass used for covering plants in a garden; (
b) (see
quot. 1882);
garden gnome, a figure of a gnome used as a garden ornament;
garden-ground, (
a) ground suitable for a garden; (
b) a plot of ground appropriated to a garden;
garden magic, magic practised by certain primitive peoples as an aid in the cultivation of their gardens;
garden-patch U.S. = garden-ground (b);
garden-path, a path in a garden (see also sense 1 f above);
garden-pea (see sense 5 a above);
spec. (see
quot. 1960);
† garden-penny, ? a tithe or payment levied upon garden-produce;
garden-plot, a plot of land used as a garden;
† garden-roll (
obs.),
garden-roller, a heavy cylinder fitted with a handle or shafts, for smoothing a lawn or path;
garden-room, (
a) space in a garden; (
b) a room with a door or window opening out on to a garden;
† garden satin, ? flowered satin;
garden sauce (
sars,
sarse,
sass)
U.S., garden vegetables (see
sauce n. 4 a);
garden seat, a seat (of wood or metal) for use in a garden; a similar seat, holding one or two persons, fixed on the roof of an omnibus, etc.; hence
garden-seated a.;
† garden-sin (
nonce-wd.), a weed;
garden spot U.S., (
a) a garden or a place suitable for a garden; (
b) a region notable for its fertility, climate, etc.;
Garden State U.S., a name given to various American states,
esp. New Jersey;
† garden-stead = garden-plot;
garden suburb, a suburb organized on the same lines as, or having some of the characteristics of, a garden city;
† garden-things, produce of a garden;
garden town = garden city (b);
garden-truck U.S., garden vegetables;
garden village, a village organized on the same lines as, or having some of the characteristics of, a garden city;
garden-wall-bond Bricklaying (see
quot.);
† garden-ware = garden-things. Also
garden-gate, -house, -party, -pot, -stuff.
| 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. E iij, When I had..carried my buckler before me like a *garden But. |
| 1908 R. South Moths Brit. Is. II. 195 (caption) *Garden Carpet at rest. 1928 Sunday Express 8 July 10/4 A fine ‘firdausi’, or garden carpet. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 127/1 Garden carpets, Persian carpets, showing formal designs with figures and animals. 1963 Times 8 June 1/7 There is reason to believe that the first important carpet was known as the Garden Carpet. When the sons of the Prophet took Ctesiphon in A.D. 637 they discovered a vast woven fabric of over one thousand square yards in area,..in which the motive was a garden in the full beauty of spring... The garden carpet is a symbol—the emblems of life and death passing to eternity in an endless chain. |
| 1965 C. Kelway Gardening on Sand ix. 117 Look out for them [sc. dwarf trees] at the now-popular *garden centres where many may be seen growing in containers ready for taking home. 1971 Guardian 25 Sept. 7/1 Plant container-grown Roses, Flowering Shrubs, Conifers..Lymm Garden Centre—on A56. |
| 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. i. 546 This pole, like the handle of a *garden-chair, enables the guide to drive to the eighth of an inch, to avoid all obstacles, to turn corners. 1831 Society I. 122 Seated in the garden-chair appropriated to Miss Herford's use, and drawn by her favourite donkey, away went the cousins. 1851 H. Melville Whale xxi. 111 Garden-chairs which are convertible into walking-sticks. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xiii, The garden-chairs standing among the flower-beds. |
| 1848 Gem of Prairie (Chicago) 25 Nov. 3/3 My rambles round the *Garden city. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 665 Savannah, in Georgia,..claiming the name of Garden City. 1898 E. Howard To-morrow i. 13 Garden City, the Town-country magnet, which it is intended to build. 1902 ― (title) Garden cities of tomorrow. 1903 Times 29 Aug. 4/5 The Garden City Pioneer Company (Limited) has acquired about 4,000 acres of land near Hitchin on which to build the first garden city. 1914 Scotsman 6 Oct. 7/2 There are at present in existence a number of schemes such as the First Garden City at Letchworth, and the various garden suburbs which have been successfully started in various parts of the country. 1927 Daily Tel. 1 May 9/4 The Federal Capital City of Australia..its splendid design on ‘garden city’ lines. 1966 W. L. Creese (title) The search for environment. The garden city: before and after. |
| 1896 ‘S. Cumberland’ What I think of S. Afr. xv. 175 Natal is called the ‘*Garden Colony’. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 28 July 10/1 It is the Garden Colony of South Africa. |
| 1872 Newton Kansan 21 Nov. 2/3 This bids fair to be the favored spot in the *garden county. |
| 1891 J. D. Sedding (title) *Garden craft, old and new. 1904 E. Wharton Italian Villas 5 To enjoy and appreciate the Italian garden-craft one must always bear in mind that it is independent of floriculture. 1927 E. S. Rohde (title) Garden-craft in the Bible, and other essays. |
| 1811 W. J. Titford Sks. Hortus Bot. Amer. p. xiii, *Garden Egg. (Solanum Melongena.) Cut in slices, parboiled and fried, resembles fried eggs. 1964 E. Huxley Back Street New Worlds xiv. 141 The Shepherd's Bush market has a shop devoted wholly to West African foods..like..garden eggs and fou-fou. 1969 Daily Tel. 11 Jan. 14/1 Melongene is our own familiar aubergine known in Jamaica as ‘garden egg’. |
| 1815 Specif. Edridge's Patent No. 3948 Solder may in such instances be employed..to render the pump a fire or *garden engine. 1892 Garden 27 Aug. 179 The bushes were so bad, that I had them well sprayed with the garden engine. |
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 72/1 They were essentially greenhouses, although perhaps more like our *garden-frames. |
| 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 116 The *garden-glasses glanced, and momently The twinkling laurel scatter'd silver lights. 1882 Ogilvie, Garden-glass, 1. a round globe of dark-coloured glass, generally about 1½ foot in diameter, placed on a pedestal, in which the surrounding objects are reflected: much used as an ornament of gardens in Germany. |
| 1946 Woman & Beauty Dec. 31 *Garden gnomes—some people like them. 1966 M. Kelly Dead Corse vii. 100 The owners of plastic flowers and garden gnomes, and plaster teal taking wing across the wall of the lounge-diner. |
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4938/3 A Piece of *Garden-ground, and a Tenement thereupon. 1766 Smollett Trav. I. xvi. 268 All the vineyards and garden-grounds for a considerable extent are vaulted underneath. 1808 Toller Tithes iv. 124 It is very usual..to agree with the occupiers of garden-ground for a stated composition by the acre. 1870 Longfellow Wayside Inn ii. Bell of Atri 38 Rented his vineyards and his garden-grounds. |
| 1929 B. Malinowski Sexual Life Savages ii. 36 In *garden magic, the officiator plays an economically and socially important role and is the organizer and director of the work. 1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound iii. 71 The cult has come a long way from simple garden-magic. |
| 1832 J. P. Kennedy Swallow Barn II. 224 Little *garden-patches..where cymblings, cucumbers..flourished. 1924 R. Cummins Sky-High Corral 17 The fat cook puffed in from the garden patch. |
| 1870 ‘F. Fern’ Ginger-Snaps 162 The irresolute hand..could only lead them up and down that narrow *garden path. 1932 B. Nichols (title) Down the garden path. |
| 1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi ii. lii. 522 *Garden Pease are for the most part the greatest and sweetest kinds. 1681, 1832 Garden pea [see sense 5 a above]. 1951 E. David French Country Cooking 231 Put the contents of a large tin of garden peas through a sieve. 1960 Which? June 120/1 Canned peas come in two forms, ‘garden’ and ‘processed’. ‘Garden’ peas are canned when they are fresh... ‘Processed’ peas are dried peas which are soaked to bring them back to their ordinary size before they go through much the same canning procedure as garden peas. 1969 V. C. Clinton-Baddeley Only Matter of Time 37 Alice, bearing potatoes..and ‘garden’ peas which had not long been emancipated from the deep freeze. |
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 400 Paying Tythes duly and truly, even to a *garden-penny, as wee call it, or of very flowers and pot-herbs that grow in our garden. 1647 Husbandman's Plea agst. Tithes 59 They pay never a peny to the Minister, except it be a garden peny, or a peck of Apples, or such like tithes. |
| 1587 J. Harmar tr. Beza's Serm. xxvi. 351 Their *garden-plots and orchards. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. (1611) 116 Knights and men of valour, whose worth must be tried in the field, not vnder a rose-bed or in a Garden-plot. 1845 Florist's Jrnl. 221 Affording even the suburban tyro a chance of ornamenting his garden-plot. |
| 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. III. xxxii. 302 Drawing a heavy *garden-roll. |
| 1792 C. Smith Desmond I. 59 A figure who gave me the idea of a *garden roller set on its end. 1852 Miss Mitford Recollect. II. 169 Mr. Landor..seated on a garden-roller in the court. |
| 1750 R. Roe Let. to A. Johnson 19 Where *garden-room enough is to be had. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xx. 317 The garden-room, whither Lady Ann had now retired. 1961 Times 6 May 11/3 This exquisite garden-room is the most perfect of its kind in Italy. 1971 Country Life 24 June 1593/1 At the end of this wall Captain Radcliffe built a terrace and portico or garden room of stone in the Grecian style. |
| 1722 Lond. Gaz. No. 6068/8 A *Garden Sattin Night Gown lined with Cherry Silk, one Chince Gown. |
| 1791 Amer. Museum X. 179 For want of *garden sauce, they..eat more flesh than is consistent with their health. 1833 J. Neal Down-Easters I. 91, I wanted cabbage or potaters, or most any sort o' garden sarse. 1869 S. Bowles Our New West xi. 231 A load of grain, pork, or ‘garden sass’. 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxix. 504 The country West does not contain arable land enough to supply garden-sauce to an average population. 1921 C. Greer-Petrie Angeline at Seelbach 11 The next thing he fotch us was some gyarden sass and some biled beef. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxix, A *garden seat which happened..to be near at hand. 1879 F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. vii, There was a garden seat..upon the lawn. 1891 Daily News 13 Jan. 2/4 On the garden seats the passengers sat two abreast. |
| 1895 Westm. Gaz. 29 Mar. 2/1 Many people..dislike getting on the top of a *garden-seated 'bus. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 210 Neglecting it till they [the weeds] are ready to sow themselves, you do but stir and prepare for a more numerous Crop of these *Garden-sins. |
| 1687 T. Faunce in Rec. Town Plymouth (1889) I. 190 We are bounded by goodman Watsons *garden spot. 1813 Niles' Reg. IV. 317/2 The Rapids of the Miami may justly be termed the ‘garden spot’ of the territory. 1884 ‘C. E. Craddock’ In Tenn. Mts. I. 53 She was welcomed to a chair and a view of the weed-grown ‘garden-spot’. 1898 T. N. Page Red Rock 298 It's the garden spot of the world—the money's jest layin' round to waste on the ground. |
| 1865 Daily Morning Chron. (Washington, D.C.) 29 Sept. 2/3 Verily, Illinois is justly called ‘The *Garden State’. 1871 Schele de Vere Americanisms 659 Kansas is often called the Garden State, from the beautiful appearance of rolling prairies and vast cultivated fields. 1948 Sat. Even. Post 20 Nov. 57/2 When the first nip of frost chills the New Jersey air, cooks in the Garden State revive this recipe. 1967 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 25 June (1970) 537 Betty Hughes was the tour guide... Her state [sc. New Jersey] is called the ‘Garden State’, and they have many truck farmers. |
| 1609 Manch. Court Leet Rec. (1885) II. 249 The place..is Conuerted..into Certaine *gardensteeds. |
| 1905 S. A. Barnett Let. 28 Jan. in H. Barnett Canon Barnett (1918) II. 191 My wife has had a very busy week, interviewing people re the *Garden Suburb. 1914 Garden suburb [see garden city, above]. 1953 C. Day Lewis Italian Visit iii. 42 Here is one corner of a foreign field That is for ever garden suburb. |
| 1772 Barker in Phil. Trans. LXII. 44 *Garden-things, turnips, &c. were very much destroyed. |
| 1915 P. Geddes Cities in Evolution iii. 54 The conditions for labour and its real wages, in the innumerable *garden-towns and villages which are springing up. |
| 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 51 The Rees..had left..some *garden truck, such as squashes. 1923 M. Watts L. Nichols 292 A wagon-load of garden-truck. |
| 1915 *Garden village [see garden town above]. 1933 Archit. Rev. LXXIV. 120 He may preserve as much as he can and create a garden village which will be an addition to the neighbourhood. |
| 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 410 *Garden-wall bond consists of three stretchers and one header in nine inch walls, but when fourteen inches thick, the Flemish bond is used. |
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. 432 A clay bottom is a much more pernicious Soil for Trees and *Garden-ware than Gravel. |
▸
garden leave n. Brit. (
euphem.)
= gardening leave n. at
gardening n. Additions.
| 1990 Financial Times 19 Jan. 19/2 The court..concluded that an injunction would not be granted to enforce *garden leave arrangements where there is no real prospect of serious or significant damage to the employer from the employee joining a third party. 2000 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 35/1 Mr Grimsey and Mr Hoskins are on ‘garden leave’, have not submitted formal resignation letters and do not regard themselves as having resigned. |
▸
garden variety n. a variety (of plant) likely to be cultivated or found growing in a garden; (in extended use,
freq. attrib.) an extremely common, ordinary, or unexceptional type;
cf. common or garden at Compounds 2d.
| 1787 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 2) II. 699 The stem and bunch of flowers is a *garden variety. 1908 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily News 13 Mar. 8/5 The story told by the girl is a regular thriller and puts to shame the offerings of the garden variety of stock company. 1983 Garden Design Autumn 10/1 In the garden variety ‘Aureomarginata’, they are longitudinally striped and margined with yellow. 2000 Economist 15–21 July (Review of Books section) 3/2 Instead of any serial killer or garden variety nutcase, there is..a quasi-supernatural presence that may or may not be entirely of this world. |
▪ II. garden, v. (
ˈgɑːd(ə)n)
[f. the n.; cf. F. jardiner (from 15th c.).] 1. a. intr. To cultivate a garden; to work in a garden as a gardener.
† Also, to lay out a garden.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 53 b, I know in hot countries they garden all the winter long. 1625 Bacon Ess., Gardens (Arb.) 555 When Ages grow to Ciuility..Men come to Build Stately, sooner then to Garden Finely. 1765 Franklin Let. Wks. 1887 III. 391 You should have gardened long before the date of your last. 1832 Tennyson New-Year's Eve xii, I shall never garden more. 1844 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 137, I..read scraps of books, garden a little, and am on good terms with my neighbours. |
b. Cricket. Of a batsman: to remedy any unevenness in the pitch by clearing away loose fragments, patting the ground flat, etc.
colloq.| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 226/2 Fragments of grass and turf should be removed... The process of clearing the ground of débris is known to cricketers as ‘gardening’. 1956 N. Cardus Close of Play 15 They both attended to the turf every ball, ‘gardening’ assiduously, and how thoroughly Sutcliffe would pat the earth. |
2. trans. To cultivate as a garden; to bring or form by cultivation
into (a specified state).
| 1862 B. Taylor Home & Abr. Ser. ii. I. 322 The trees have been judiciously spared..the long landscape..gardened into more perfect beauty. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 6 Feb. 3/3 The gallery of well-dressed women..suggests the simile of some gorgeous flower-bed, carefully gardened. |
3. To supply with a garden or gardens.
rare.
| 1865 Athenæum No. 1945. 154/3 They were there superbly housed and luxuriously gardened. |
† 4. (See
quot.)
Obs. [So F.
jardiner.]
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Garden a Hawk, ..is to put her on a Turf of Grass to chear her. |
Hence
ˈgardenable a., capable of being gardened.
| 1804 Coleridge Let. 21 Apr. (1895) II. 476 Above the town, little gardens..are scattered here and there, wherever they can force a bit of gardenable ground. |
▪ III. garden obs. form of
guardian.