▪ I. ivy, n.
(ˈaɪvɪ)
Pl. ivies (ˈaɪvɪz). Forms: α. 1 {iacu}fiᵹ, {yacu}fiᵹ, 3 ivi, 4 yvi, 4–5 yve, yvy, 5–6 ivye, 5–7 ivie, 6 yvie, (ive), 4– ivy. β. 1 {iacu}feᵹn, 5 iwen, -yn, 5 iven, 6 yven, 9 dial. ivin, (hivin), ivvens. γ. 9 dial. ivory, ivery, iv'ry.
[OE. {iacu}fiᵹ, obscurely related to OHG. ebahęwi, ebawi, ebah, MHG. ebe-höu, ep-höu, early mod.G. (1561) æbhöuw, Ger. ep-heu (1600), epheu (1669), MLG. îflôf, LG. eiloof. The first element of these appears to be an OTeut. *ī̆ba, of which no cognates are known. The second element in OHG. is app. hęwi, MHG. höu, Ger. heu hay; Kluge suggests that OE. {iacu}fiᵹ may similarly go back to an earlier ī̆f-heᵹ. But no explanation appears of the connexion with ‘hay’.]
1. a. A well-known climbing evergreen shrub (Hedera Helix), indigenous to Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, having dark-green shining leaves, usually five-angled, and bearing umbels of greenish-yellow flowers, succeeded by dark berries; it is a favourite ornamental covering of walls, old buildings, ruins, etc. The plant was anciently sacred to Bacchus.
barren, creeping, small ivy (formerly also earth-ivy, and ground-ivy 2): a small, creeping, flowerless variety growing on hedgebanks. black, English ivy: the common ivy, also termed H. nigra, from its black berries. Queensland ivy, an Australian species having pinnate leaves. variegated ivy, a variety having variegated leaves.
| α a 800 Leiden Gloss. 44 Hederam, ibaei. Erfurt Gloss. 392 Hedera, ifeᵹ. c 1000 in Cockayne Shrine 139/27 Weal se is mid ifiᵹe bewriᵹen. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 212 Eorð yfiᵹ..þysse wyrte þe man hederan nigran and oþrum naman eorð ifiᵹ nemneþ. a 1250 Owl & Night. 27 On old stoc..was mid ivi al bi-growe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. liii. (Bodl. MS.), Oftyn Poetes were crowned with Iuye: in token of noble witte & scharpe, for the yuye is alwei grene. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xlix. 387 The blacke Iuye hath harde wooddy branches. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccci. 708 Creeping or barren Iuie is called..in English ground Iuie. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 170 The poysoned weed is much in shape like our English Iuy. 1764 Churchill Gotham i, The Ivy crawling o'er the hallow'd cell. 1814 L. Hunt Feast Poets, Bacchus, or the Pirates (1815) 156 And then an ivy, with a flowering shoot, Ran up the mast in rings. 1835 Hooker Brit. Flora I. 123 The Irish Ivy is much cultivated on account of the vastly larger size of its foliage, and its very rapid growth. 1837 Dickens Pickw. vi, Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old! 1839 Tennyson Lotos-Eaters, Chor. Song i, Here are cool mosses deep, And thro' the moss the ivies creep. |
| β a 800 Corpus Gloss. 718 Hedera, ifeᵹn. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 644/26 Hec edera,..iwyn. a 1450 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 277 Þan se þai a howse a lytyll þam fro Oure-growne wyt Iwen. 1483 Cath. Angl. 199/1 An Iven, edera. 1535 Coverdale 2 Macc. vi. 7 They were constrayned to weere garlandes of yven. 1828 Craven Dial., Ivin, Ivy. 1876–93 in north. dial. glossaries from Northumberland to Lincolnshire, Ivin 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Ivvens, or Ivvy, ivy. |
| γ 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Ivory, ivy. 1886 S.W. Linc. Gloss., Ivery, Iv'ry, often used for Ivy; as ‘The ivery had grown thruff the roof’. 1895 E. Anglia Gloss., Ivory, ivy. 1895 Emerson Birds 56. |
† b. Used as a sign that wine was sold within;
cf. ivy-garland in 3 d, and
ivy-bush.
Obs.| 1436 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 183 What nedeth a garlande, whyche is made of ivye, Shew a tavern wynelesse, also thryve I. 14.. Why I can't be a Nun 358 in E.E.P. (1862) 147 A fayre garlond of yve grene Whyche hangeth at a taverne dore, Hyt ys a false token as I wene, But yf there be wyne gode and sewer. 1612 W. Parkes Curtaine-Dr. (1876) 37 The Iuy is hung out in almost euery place, and open market, kept as vnder the allowance of authority. |
c. U.S. = poison ivy (see sense 2).
| 1788 J. May Jrnl. 9 June (1873) 65, I have been clearing land for eight days, and now begin to feel the effects of poison—from ivy, doubtless. 1849 F. Parkman Calif. & Oregon Trail xiii. 205 In the morning Shaw found himself poisoned by ivy. |
2. Applied, with distinctive addition, to various (usually climbing or creeping) plants of other genera.
American or
five-leaved ivy, Virginia creeper,
Ampelopsis hederacea or quinquefolia.
bindweed-leaved ivy, the genus
Menispermum, Moon-seed.
Boston or
Japanese ivy,
Ampelopsis tricuspidata.
Colosseum or
Kenilworth ivy, Ivy-leaved Toad-flax (Miller
Plant-n. 1884).
German ivy,
Senecio mikanoides, a variety of Groundsel (Webster 1864);
Yellow German ivy,
S. scandens;
Indian ivy,
Scindapsus pertusus (
Monstera deliciosa) and other species (Miller);
Mexican ivy,
Cobæa scandens (
ibid.);
(American) poison ivy,
Rhus Toxicodendron (
Treas. Bot. 1866);
West Indian ivy,
Marcgravia umbellata (Miller). See also
ground-ivy.
| 1588 Greene Pandosto (1607) 20 To see if perchance the sheepe was browzing on the sea Iuie. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 316 Ivy, Bindweed-leaved, Menispermum. 1866 Treas. Bot. 53/2 Ampelopsis..hederacea, the Virginian Creeper or American Ivy. Ibid. 632/2 Ivy..German, a garden name for Senecio mikanoides. 1879 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Five-leaved Ivy, a common garden name for the Virginia creeper, Ampelopsis hederacea. |
3. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple attributive, as
ivy-bloom,
ivy-bud,
† ivy-crop,
ivy-crown,
ivy-shroud,
ivy-stem,
ivy-wood,
ivy-wreath.
b. instrumental, as
ivy-bound,
ivy-circled,
ivy-clad,
ivy-covered,
ivy-crowned,
ivy-gnarled,
ivy-hung,
ivy-mantled,
ivy-ridden,
† ivy-tapissed,
ivy-twined,
ivy-walled,
ivy-wimpled,
ivy-wound,
ivy-wreathed adjs. c. similative, as
ivy-twisted adj.| 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. i. 745 The yellow bees in the *ivy-bloom. |
| 1862 Barnes Hwomely Rhymes I. 201 Avore the walls were *ivy-bound. |
| a 1593 Marlowe ‘Come, live with me’ v, A belt of straw and *ivie buds. |
| 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi. 118 An *Iuy-seeled Bower. |
| 1875 W. M{supc}Ilwraith Guide Wigtownshire 83 A small two-storied *ivy-clad tower. |
| 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 5 *The ivy-covered house passed on the left is ‘The Knoll’. |
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 214 *Ifiᵹ croppena on þam monðe ᵹegaderod þe we hatað ianuarius. a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 298/22 Corimbus, ifiᵹcrop. |
| a 1747 Holdsworth Rem. Virgil 26 The *Ivy crown is mentioned frequently by the ancients, as worn by the poets in those days. |
| 1632 Milton L'Allegro 16 Whom lovely Venus..To *ivy-crowned Bacchus bore. |
| 1813 Shelley Q. Mab ix. 128 Soothing notes Of *ivy-fingered winds. |
| 1867 Mrs. Stowe Knocking in Rel. Poems 14 *Ivy-gnarled and weed-bejangled. |
| 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 58 Gray and *ivy-hung antiquity. |
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. v. i. 9 Renowmed Aquine, now I..to thy hand yeeld up the *iuye-mace From crabbed Persius, and more smooth Horace. |
| 1750 Gray Elegy 9 Save that from yonder *ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain. |
| 1865 E. Burritt Walk Land's End 87 The silvery music of the old bells in the *ivy-netted tower. |
| 1867 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 197 Never have I seen ruins so ruinous, so *ivy-ridden. |
| 1859 Tennyson Enid 322 Monstrous *ivy-stems Claspt the gray walls with hairy-fibred arms. |
| 1675 Hobbes Odyss. (1677) 192 And in a basket sets on bread of wheat, And in an *ivy-tankard wine good store. |
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 111 b, Onely there remaine the *Iuie-tapissed wals of the keepe. |
| 1820 W. Tooke tr. Lucian I. 314 The *ivy-turned thyrsus in his hand. |
| 1863 I. Williams Baptistery ii. xxiii. (1874) 74 In *ivy-walled solitude. |
| 1621 S. Ward Happiness of Practice (1627) 9 Owles in *Iuy-woods. 1626 Bacon Sylva §3 Passing it thorow Ivy wood. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies (1645) 183 The ivywood and divers others. 1896 ‘M. Field’ Attila ii. 36 The bowl of ivy-wood Our hero drinks from. |
| 1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid's Met. 309 The thyrsus *ivy-wound. |
d. Special comb.:
ivy-bells, the Ivy-leaved Bell-flower,
Campanula hederacea (Britten & Holland);
ivy-bind, a climbing ivy stem;
ivy-bindweed, Climbing Buckwheat,
Polygonum Convolvulus;
ivy broom rape, a species of
Orobanche, with purple stem, parasitic upon ivy;
ivy-chickweed, Ivy-leaved Speedwell,
Veronica hederifolia (Britten & Holland);
ivy-dart, the thyrsus;
ivy-fern (see
quot.);
ivy-garland, a garland of ivy, formerly the sign of a house where wine was sold:
cf. ivy-bush;
ivy-geranium, the procumbent Ivy-leaved Pelargonium;
ivy-girl, an effigy of a girl formed of ivy: see
quots., and
cf. holly-boy s.v. holly 3;
ivy (grape)-vine, a species of vine,
Vitis indivisa (Miller
Plant-n. 1884);
ivy-gum, the resinous juice which exudes from the ivy:
cf. gum ivy (
gum n.2 3 b);
ivy-like a., like or resembling ivy;
ivy-owl (see
quot.);
ivy-resin = ivy-gum;
ivy-twine = ivy-bind;
ivy-vine, the Virginia Creeper;
ivy-wort, (
a) Lindley's name for the family Araliaceæ, which includes the ivy and its congeners; (
b) see
quot. 1640 for
ivy-like. Also
ivy-bush, -leaf, -leaved, -tod, -tree.
| 1731 T. Cox Magna Brit. VI. 232/2 [The lightning] ran down in the Form of an *Ivy-bind, searing the Tree. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. liii. 394 This kinde of Bindeweede is called..Windweede, or *Iuybindweede. 1879 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Ivy-Bindweed, Polygonum Convolvulus. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 134 For in Pierian caves he never sings, Nor with an *ivy-dart divinely raves. |
| 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 351 The curious *Ivy-fern, Hemionitis palmata, whose five-angled leaves, grovelling on the ground, clothed with a bristling crop of red down [etc.]. |
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 177 By an *Ivie garland, we judge there is wine to sell. |
| 1894 Daily News 17 July 6/5 Drooping sprays of *ivy geranium, with its beautiful pointed leaves of brightest, glossiest green. |
| 1736 Pegge Kenticisms, Holly-boys and *Ivy-girls, in West Kent, figures in the form of a boy and girl, made one of holly, the other of ivy, upon a Shrove Tuesday, to make sport with. 1779 Gentl. Mag. XLIX. 137 The boys..in another part of the village, were assembled together and burning what they called an Ivy Girl, which they had stolen from the girls. |
| 1855 Mayne Expos. Lex., *Ivy-gum. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 103 In the south of Europe and north of Africa, an exudation is found on the old trunks of the Ivy, called ivy-gum. |
| 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. v. xcv. 681 Cymbalaria Italica Hederacea, the Italian Gondelo or *Ivie like leafe. Ibid. 682 We may call it in English eyther Iviewort or the Ivie like leafe. 1842 H. Rogers Ess. I. i. 10 Wit..so disproportionate, that it conceals in its ivy-like luxuriance the robust wisdom about which it coils itself. |
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 102 The common brown or *Ivy-Owl. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Ivy-Resin..is brought from Persia, and some other of the hot countries..It is said to be emollient and detergent, and to make a noble balsam for fresh wounds. |
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat., Defiance Envie 19 Nor the low bush feares climbing *yvy-twine. |
| 1867 Mrs. Stowe Knocking in Rel. Poems 12 The bolt is clogged and dusty; Many-fingered *ivy-vine Seals it fast with twist and twine. 1640 *Iviewort [see ivy-like]. 1866 Treas. Bot. 85/1 Araliaceæ (Araliads, Ivyworts), form a small natural order closely approaching umbellifers. |
Hence
ˈivy v. trans., to cover with or as with ivy (
cf. ivied); in
quot. fig.| 1843 Lowell Poems, Prometheus, Earth with her twining memories ivies o'er Their holy sepulchres. |
▪ II. ivy variant of
Ive in
herb Ive.