▪ I. willow, n.
(ˈwɪləʊ)
Forms: α. 1 weliᵹ, 5 weleygh; 5 Sc. pl. willeis, 4–5 wilghe, wylghe, 6 wylly(e, -ie, 6, 9 dial. willie, willy, 8 willi- (9 -ey, wullie, -y); 7 wilfe, 8– dial. wilf. β. 4 welew, 5 welogh, 5–6 welowe; 4 wilewe, 4–5 wilw(e, wylw(e, wyl(o)ugh, (whilwh), wil(l)ou, wylo, wyllo, wilowe, 5–6 wylow(e, (whylowe), 6 willo, wyllow(e, -ough, 7 willough, 5– willow.
[OE. weliᵹ f., corresp. to Fris. wylch, wil(l)ig, OLG. wilgia (LG. wilge), MDu. wilge (Du. wilg), MHG. wilge; f. Teut. walg-, welg-, whence also OE. wiliᵹe willy n.1
The form-history is obscure, partly from the fact that examples of the word are not forthcoming for the period between late OE. and the 14th century, when the immediate precursor of the present form, viz. wilwe, is already established, instead of the normal representative of OE. weliᵹ, which would be *welly. The change in the root-syllable may be due to willy n.1 (OE. wiliᵹe), or an OE. *wiliᵹ may have existed; for the terminal syllable cf. bellows beside belly (OE. beliᵹ), fellow beside felly (OE. feliᵹ). The type willy survives dial.]
I. 1. a. Any plant of the genus Salix, which consists of trees and shrubs of various sizes, widely distributed in temperate and cold regions, growing for the most part by the side of watercourses, characterized by very pliant branches and long narrow drooping leaves, and valued economically as furnishing osiers, a light smooth and soft wood, or a medicinal astringent bark, or grown ornamentally by the side of water.
| α a 750 Blickl. Glosses in O.E. Texts 123 In salicibus, on welᵹum. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 156 Weliᵹes leaf wylle on wætere. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxxvi[i]. 2 In þe wylghes in þe myddis of hit. c 1400 tr. Secr. Secr., Gov. Lordsh. 81 Þat he haue weleyghes and myrt. 14.. Liber pauperum in MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, lf. 295 (Hall.) Tak the bark of wilghe that is bitwene the tre and the utter barke. 1473 Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 178 Plantation of willeis. 1483 Cath. Angl. 418/1 A Wylght [sic], salix. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xxiii. 40 Wyllies of the broke. ― Isa. xliv. 4 The Willies by the waters side. [1641 wilfe: see willow-tree.] |
| β c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 163 Sauz [glossed wytie; Camb. MS. wilwe; All Souls MS. withe or wilghe]. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 659 Sauce..Welew. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2064 Wylugh [v.rr. Wylow, Wylw, Willow]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 365 At Glyndalkan..wilewys bereþ apples as it were appel treen. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 716/19 Hec salix, a welogh. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 15178 Som whilwh ful off levys grene. c 1450 Cokwolds Daunce x. in Hartshorne Anc. Metr. T. (1829) 212 Garland of wylos sculd be fette, And sett vpon his hed. 1546 Supplic. Poore Commons (1871) 78 A christalline ryuer garnished with wyllouse. 1634 Milton Comus 891 By the rushy-fringed bank, Where grows the Willow and the Osier dank. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1275 Plaintive breeze, that play'd Among the bending willows. 1784 Cowper Task i. 268 The willows dip Their pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink. 1818 Keats Endym. i. 43 While the willow trails Its delicate amber. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn ii, The old willows by the river. |
b. The wood or osiers of any tree of this genus.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 517 He..toke the balke..as lightly as it had be som pece of welowe. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 491 Willowes..Whereof..there be Baskets made. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 15 The pressure of the external air will then force the mercury through the pores of the hazel or willow. |
c. in allusive use with reference to pliability.
| 1832 Macaulay Ess., Burleigh ¶4 Burleigh, like the old Marquess of Winchester, who preceded him in the custody of the White Staff, was of the willow, and not of the oak. 1847 Emerson Poems, Musketaquid 70, I am a willow of the wilderness, Loving the wind that bent me. 1910 J. D. Moffat Paul & Paulinism 24 Barnabas was of the willow rather than of the oak order. |
d. Taken as a symbol of grief for unrequited love or the loss of a mate;
esp. in
phr. to wear (the) willow,
the willow garland (see 6 d), or
the green willow: to grieve for the loss of a loved one.
| 1584 Lyly Sappho ii. iv, Peace miserable wretch, enioy thy care in couert, weare willow in thy hatte, and baies in thy hart. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 10 In such a night Stood Dido with a Willow in her hand Vpon the wilde sea bankes. 1597 Breton Wit's Trenchmour Wks. (Grosart) II. 20 Some dolefull Ballad, to the tune of all a greene willow. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil v. ii, Bring me a crown of gold to crown my loue; A wreath of willow for dispised Grissill. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. iii. 51 Sing all a greene Willough must be my Garland. 1625 Fletcher & Shirley Nt. Walker i. i, We see you'r willow and are sorry for't. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. v. i, You may cry willow, willow for your brother. 1668 Dryden Secret Love v. i, If you had not forsaken me, I had you: so the Willows may flourish for any branches I shall rob 'em of. 1678 D'Urfey Fool turn'd Critick ii. ii. 19 Lady A...so that for his sake I quitted all the rest. Pen. And left them Willowes. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week Thurs. 134 Nor shall she crown'd with willow die a maid. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1080 ‘She is in her willows’..implies the mourning of a female for her lost mate. 1885 K. S. Macquoid At Red Glove vi. i, There's..Marie..wearing the willow because..Engemann is away courting Madam Carouge. |
2. a. With qualification denoting a particular species or variety of the genus
Salix: see
quots. and
almond w. (
almond 10),
crack-willow,
goat w. (
goat n. 4 b),
ground w. (
ground n. 18 c),
rose w. (
rose n. 23 b),
sage w. (
sage n.1 6 b),
sallow w. (
sallow n. 4),
† stake w. (
stake n.1 7),
swamp w. (
swamp n. 3 c),
sweet w. (
sweet C. 1 b),
weeping willow,
whipcord w. (
whipcord n. 3).
Cf. osier and
sallow n.| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 202 Weeping and drooping trees... *Babylonian willow (Salix Babylonica). |
| 1847 Darlington Amer. Weeds etc. (1860) 328 S[alix] viminalis..Osier. *Basket Willow. |
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Salix, The *Bay-leav'd Sweet Willow. |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 360/1 Salix Russelliana, Russell or *Bedford willow. |
| 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 161 Salix discolor (*bog willow). |
| 1650 [W. Howe] Phytol. Brit. 107 Salix angustifolia pumila; In uliginosis. *Dwarf-Willow. |
| 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 111 This species is sometimes called the *Golden Willow (Salix chrysantha), on account of the beautiful golden catkins which in May and June ornament its boughs. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 202 *Kilmarnock willow (Salix caprea, var. pendula). |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 360/2 Salix purpurea, *purple willow. |
| 1842 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 10. 7 The *tree willow (Salix caprea). |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. li. 1203 Salix aquatica. The Oziar, or *water Willow. |
| 1640 Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1430 Salix arborea angustifolia alba vulgaris... Our ordinary *white Willow groweth quickely to be a great and tall tree. 1882 Garden 9 Sept. 227/3 The wood of the white Willow..is always in request. |
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 48 Salix myrsinites..*Whortle leaved Willow. |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 360/2 Salix vitellina, the *yellow willow. |
b. Extended, with qualification, to plants of other genera having some resemblance to the willow: see
quots.| 1548 Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 41 Halimus..may be called in englishe sea wyllowe or prickwylowe because it hath the leaues of a wylowe and prickes lyke a thorne. 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. lxviii. 1228 Gaule, sweete Willow, or Dutch Myrtle tree. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 331 Willow, Spiked, of Theophrastus, Spiræa. 1866 J. E. Brogden Prov. Wds. Lincs., Roman Willow, a garden plant, Syringa cœruleo flore. 1866 Treas. Bot., Willow... Golden. A Madeira name for Genista scoparia...—, Primrose. A West Indian name for Œnothera. 1875 Ibid. Suppl., Willow, Australian. Geijera parviflora. —, Water, of the United States. Dianthera americana. 1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Plants Australia 306 Acacia calamifolia, Willow, or Broom Wattle. |
c. With qualification
bay,
flowering,
French,
Persian: the
willow-herb,
Epilobium angustifolium.
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. cxxix. 479 Chamænerium is called of Gesner, Epilobion: in English, Bay Willow. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 386 French Willow. 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. II. 280 E[pilobium] angustifolium (Rose Bay, or Flowering Willow). 1866 Treas. Bot., Willow..Persian, Epilobium angustifolium. |
II. † 3. = willy n.1 2.
Obs.| 1385–6 City of London Rec., Pleas & Mem. Rolls Roll 27 A m. 28 (MS.) Grant destruccion de pesson par engyns appeles Wilwes. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (W. de W.) Y iij, For flesshe rostyd crabbes come in to wylowes [Add. MS. wyles] & pytches. a 1555 Philpot tr. Curio's Def. Christ's Ch. Wks. (Parker Soc. 1842) 385 Many unclean and damnable persons is contained in this church, which we behold as it were fishes of all sorts in a fisher's trunk or willo. |
4. = willy n.1 3.
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 164 Blowing and lapping machines..are universally employed for cleaning and opening cotton after it has passed through the willow. 1877–80 Gt. Industr. Gt. Brit. I. 229 The conical self-acting willow, invented by Mr. Lillie, of Manchester. 1891 Marsden Cotton Spinning (ed. 4) 85 The spikes on the cylinder and casing of the willow. |
5. A cricket-bat (made of willow-wood). Similarly, the bat at baseball.
Cf. King Willow s.v. king n. 6 b.
| 1846 J. Martin in Frederick Lillywhite's Cricket Scores & Biographies (1863) III. 442 And now the ‘willow’ see them wield. 1866 Le Fanu All in Dark xxxiv, He handles the willow pretty well. 1869 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 639, I had my turn at the ‘willow’. 1876 in Box Engl. Game Cricket (1877) 414 Willow the King is a monarch grand, Three in a row his courtiers stand. |
III. 6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
willow band,
willow bark,
willow bed,
willow bottom,
willow bush,
willow dust,
willow gall (
gall n.3),
willow garth,
willow ground,
willow grove,
willow head,
willow hedge,
willow holt,
willow hoop,
willow island,
willow rind,
willow row,
willow shadow,
willow swamp,
willow top,
willow tribe,
willow twig,
willow walk,
willow wand,
willow withe,
willow wood; made of willow-wood, as
willow-cylinder,
willow polisher.
b. Instrumental, parasynthetic, objective, and similative, as
willow-bordered,
willow-coloured,
willow-fringed,
willow-grown,
willow-leaved,
willow-like,
willow-lined,
willow-shaded,
willow-tufted,
willow-veiled adjs.;
willow-peeler.
c. Special
Combs.:
willow bay,
Salix pentandra;
willow-branch, a branch of a willow-tree; also allusively as in 1 d;
willow curtain (see
quot.);
willow-earth, compost made of rotten willow-branches;
† willow-flower = willow-herb 2;
willow gentian, a herbaceous perennial,
Gentiana asclepiadea, native to Europe and bearing deep blue or white flowers in axils along its curving stems;
willow-green, a variety of green resembling the colour of willow-leaves;
willow grouse, (
a) the common ptarmigan of North America,
Lagopus albus; (
b) the ruffed grouse,
Bonasa umbellus, called thus chiefly in British Columbia;
willow-lark, the sedge-warbler;
willow leaf, a leaf of the willow-tree, or a figure resembling this;
pl. the luminous filaments of the sun's surface; also as
adj. = willow-leaved adj., sense 6 b;
willow-leaved pear(-tree), a tree,
Pyrus salicifolia, that is related to the pear and is native to
S.E. Europe and Asia Minor, bearing long narrow leaves and small fruit and often thorny;
willow myrtle, a myrtaceous willow-leaved tree (
Agonis flexuosa) of Western Australia;
willow-nightingale local, the reed-sparrow;
willow oak, a North American oak,
Quercus Phellos, having narrow entire leaves like those of the willow; also, the laurel oak,
Q. laurifolia;
willow partridge,
= willow-grouse;
willow pattern, a pattern of domestic crockery in blue,
orig. designed by Thomas Turner in the late 18th century, having willow-trees as a prominent feature; hence
willow-patterned a.;
willow ptarmigan = willow-grouse;
willow-sparrow = willow-warbler;
willow sheets,
squares, pieces of plaited willow for hat-making;
willow-thorn, sea-buckthorn,
Hippophaë rhamnoides;
willow tit (mouse), a black-headed, buff-coloured European tit,
Parus montanus (formerly
P. atricapillus);
willow-warbler, a small bird,
Sylvia trochilus;
willow-ware, (
a) crockery-ware of a willow pattern; (
b) articles woven from osiers;
willow weapon, a cricket-bat;
willow weed = willow-herb 2, 3; also, various species of
Polygonum, knotweed;
willow-wielder, a batsman at cricket;
willow-wort,
= willow-herb 1, 3; also
pl., Lindley's name for the willow family;
willow-wren,
= willow-warbler. Also in several names of insects or their larvæ which infest willows, as
willow-beauty (
Boarmia rhomboidaria),
-bee (
Megachile willughbeia);
-beetle (
spec. Phyllodecta vitellinæ),
-butterfly,
-caterpillar,
-cimbex,
† -cricket,
-fly (any insect of the family
Perlidæ),
-moth (
Caradrina quadripunctata),
-sawfly,
-slug (larva of the sawfly),
-worm.
| 1819 Shelley Cyclops 203 My young lambs coupled two by two With *willow bands. |
| 1836 J. M. Gully Magendie's Formul. (ed. 2) 193 *Willow-bark having been frequently employed against intermittent fevers. |
| 1650 [W. Howe] Phytol. Brit. 108 Salix folio laureo,..*Willow-bay. |
| 1832 Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 111 The *Willow Beauty..appears the beginning of July, in woody places and gardens. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Bimbrera, a *willow bed. |
| 1897 Watts-Dunton Aylwin vii. i, A winding, *willow-bordered river. |
| 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 51 Passed a *willow bottom on the south side, and a creek on the north. 1962 W. Stegner Wolf Willow i. i. 12, I see a black iron bridge, new, that evidently leads some new road off into the willow bottoms. |
| 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. ii. i. Song, Maidens, *Willow branches bear; say I died true. 1830 Tennyson Dying Swan 37 The willow-branches hoar and dank. 1860 Trollope Framley P. xxx, I have been overwhelmed with presents of willow branches. |
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xvii, It was bordered by a line of *willow-bushes. |
| 1773 B. Wilkes Engl. Moths 58 The *Willow-Butterfly. |
| c 1633 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 68 The *willow colored satten suite. |
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 300 *Willow-cricket, or small peacock fly. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Willow Curtain,..a device to curb the rapidity of streams and induce deposit of sediment. |
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Layers, Mould, mix'd with a little rotten *Willow-dust. |
| 1683 J. Reid Scots Gard'ner (1907) 69 *Willow-earth or rotten willow-sticks at the bottom of the pot, helps to retain the moisture. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 143 A little willow-earth is very proper to mix with the above compost. |
| 1633 Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. cxxix. 477 Chamænerion alterum angustifolium. Narrow leaued *Willow-floure. |
| 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 119 The *Willow-Fly comes on about the beginning of September. |
| 1749 Warton Tri. Isis 6 O'er Isis' *willow-fringed banks I stray'd. 1870 Kingsley At Last xiii, Certain alder and willow-fringed reaches of the Thames. |
| 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 231 Trotting on to the small *willow garth near Clifford [Yorkshire]. 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 93 Osier-holts or Willow-garths, as such grounds are called in Yorkshire. |
| 1883 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden 136/1 *Willow Gentian prefers a sheltered position. 1935 C. Elliott Rock Garden Plants 123 The Willow Gentian of sub-alpine woods, grows two feet high, with arched wiry stems, strung along their upper half with fine blue trumpet-flowers. 1962 R. Page Education of Gardener xiii. 357, I may choose Gentiana asclepiadea, the willow gentian. |
| 1672 W. Hughes Amer. Physitian 28 A more blewish green colour, much like the colour called a *Willow-green. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3906/4 A Piece Ditto, striped with Willow-green and small Orange or Philamot. 1832 T. Brown Bk. Butterfl. & M. (1834) I. 172 Of a pale willow-green above. |
| 1608 Merry Devil Edmonton iii. ii, Heere in the walke neere to the *willow ground. |
| 1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855) 311 The *willow grouse on the rock crows his challenge aloud. 1907 J. G. Millais Newfoundland 274 The Newfoundland willow grouse..fly in large bodies from one district to another. 1960 Gulf Islander (Galiano, B.C.) 23 July 1/1 We listened to the resonant call of the willow grouse. 1961 W. P. Keller Canada's Wild Glory ii. 93 The grouse came back, too. These were the willow grouse, or as the same bird is known in the east, ‘the drummer’ or ruffed grouse. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Willow groue, salicetum. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 17 Meddowe, Wood Lande, and Wyllowe Groues. 1855 Singleton Virgil, Georgics ii. 575 The wild willow-grove. |
| 1871 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 265 A sandy plain somewhat *willow-grown. |
| 1798 Act 38 Geo. III c. v. §2 Any *Willow Heads, Loppings of Pollard or Doddard Trees. |
| 1805 Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Plate xxxi, A protection of *willow-hedge, raised by setting the stakes. |
| 1832 Boston, Linc. etc. Herald 13 Nov. 4/3 Secreted in a *willow holt..in Holland Fen. |
| 1697 J. Puckle New Dial. 18 Nor do We in England (as you [the Dutch]) want *Willow Hoops from Hamburgh. |
| 1814 Brackenridge Jrnl. in Views Louisiana 204 Having passed a small *willow island. |
| 1769 G. White Selborne, To Pennant 29 May, A new salicaria, which at first I suspected might have proved your *willow-lark. |
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 43 b, Of Lysimachia..The leues..are thinne and in fasshon lyke *wylow leues. c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. Dec. vii. Tab. 63 This has plain Willow Leaves. 1818 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 447 Willow-leaf golden-rod. 1829 Shelley Summer 9 The willow leaves that glanced in the light breeze. 1860 Nasmyth in Monthly Not. Royal Astron. Soc. (1864) XXIV. 67 What I claim to be the first to discover..in reference to the structure of his entire luminous surface, as well as the precise form of the structural details, which, from their general similitude in respect to form, I at once compared with willow-leaves. Ibid., These luminous filaments or willow-leaf-shaped objects. 1975 Country Life 20 Mar. 699/3 Willow-leaf pears..form charming leafy tapestries. |
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Adhatoda, The *Willow-leav'd Malabar Nut. 1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis II. 176 Willow leav'd Crab Tree. Nat[ive] of the Levant. 1820 Bot. Reg. VI. 514 (heading) Willow-leaved pear-tree. 1864 Lockyer in Reader 16 Jan. 79/2 Mr. Nasmyth's discovery of the willow-leaved things..covering like so many scales the whole surface of the sun. 1914 W. J. Bean Trees & Shrubs Hardy in Brit. Isles II. 292 Willow-leaved Pear... Branchlets covered with down which is quite white when young. 1980 V. Canning Fall from Grace ix. 155 A carpet of silvery Cineraria maritima spread under a group of willow-leaved pears. |
| 1712 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 422 Its Leaves below are long *Willow-like. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 186 A long-branched willow-like shrub. |
| 1946 J. W. Day Harvest Adventure x. 159 Half-way between Yarmouth and Acle on that dead straight, *willow-lined road. |
| 1845 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 101 The caterpillar of the *willow-moth. |
| 1898 Morris Austral Engl., *Willow Myrtle,..with willow-like leaves and pendent branches. |
| 1773 Phil. Trans. LXIII. 281 note, In the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, the [reedsparrow] hath obtained the name of the *willow-nightingale. |
| 1717 Petiveriana iii. 208 *Willow Oak. From the Likeness of its Leaf. 1813 Willow oak [see grey oak s.v. grey a. 8]. 1897 [see peach oak s.v. peach n.1 6]. 1949 Amer. Forests Sept. 18/3 A tall willow oak drips slender verdant fingers. 1975 Country Life 2 Jan. 38/3 More native trees were also planted, notably..the willow oak. |
| 1772 Forster in Phil. Trans. LXII. 390 *Willow-partridges. |
| 1829 S. Shaw Staffordsh. Potteries ix. 214 The Pattern Mr. Turner used was the *willow, designed by him from two oriental Plates, still preserved. 1848 Newman Loss & Gain i. x. 68, I myself found half a willow-pattern saucer in the crater of Vesuvius. 1878 Longfellow Kéramos 326 The willow pattern, that we knew In childhood, with its bridge of blue Leading to unknown thoroughfares. |
| 1857 C. M. Yonge Dynevor Terrace ii, The homely black tea⁓pot and *willow-patterned plates. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Willow-peeler, a device or a machine for stripping the bark from the willow wands. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 214 Plates for carriage and other small clocks..are polished with a *willow polisher. |
| 1872 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 235 Lagopus albus. *Willow Ptarmigan. |
| c 1500 World & Child (1522) A iij, I can wystell you a fytte Syres in a *whylowe ryne. 1806 Grahame Birds Scot. 5 He sits And warps the skep with willow rind. |
| 1586 W. Webbe Engl. Poetrie (Arb.) 75 Greene *willow rowes which Hiblæ bees doo reioice in. |
| 1845 Florist Jrnl. 193 Over the margin of the *willow-shaded pond. |
| 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 56 To wash-pools, where the *willow shadows lean. |
| 1819 P.O. Lond. Direct. 364 Patentee..of Beaver, Silk and Willow Hats, and *Willow-squares. 1834 1st Rep. Poor Law Comm. (1885) 199, I formerly carried on the business of a willow-square maker. |
| 1901 Seebohm Birds of Siberia xiv. 125 This never-ending, almost impenetrable *willow-swamp. |
| 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 49 Sea Buckthorn, Sallow⁓thorn, or *Willow-thorn. |
| 1907 Brit. Birds I. 44 The *Willow Tit varies a good deal geographically. 1979 C. M. Perrins Brit. Tits vii. 60 The Willow Tit was the last British species to be recognized. |
| 1958 Spectator 22 Aug. 244/1, I discovered a rare bird, then almost unknown,..at Beckenham—a *willow titmouse. |
| 1693 Congreve in Dryden's Juvenal xi. (1697) 285 No bitter *Willow-tops have been its Food. |
| 1805 Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 119 The farmer may have recourse to plants of the *willow tribe for the forming of his hedges. |
| 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 294 The *willow-tufted bank. |
| 1653 Walton Angler ii. 62 Oh it is a great logger-headed Chub: Come, hang him upon that *Willow twig. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxi, It shore asunder, as it had been a willow twig, the tough and plaited handle of the mace. |
| 1833 Tennyson Lady of Shalott i. iii, By the margin, *willow-veil'd. |
| 1803 J. Palmer World as it Goes II. 14 The carriage entered a *willow-walk, terminated by a small antique building. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxviii, When you want me for breakfast, I will be found in the willow-walk by the river. |
| a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 82 With a *willie wand thy skin was well scourged. c 1650 Robin Hood & Q. Kath. xxii. in Child Ballads v. 201 I'le cleave the willow wand. 1715 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. ii. v, Clever houghs like willi-wands. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. xxiii, As lithe they grow as any willow wand. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. ix, The rushes and the willow-wand Are bristling into axe and brand. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring iii. 80, I shall be as thin as a willow-wand. |
| 1846 Jenyns Nat. Hist. 133 We found to-day the nest of a *willow-warbler. 1882 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 429 The willow-warbler (Sylvia trochilus). |
| 1851 C. Cist Cincinnati 172 Baskets, cradles, wagons and other *willow-ware. 1880 Harper's Mag. June 30/1 We find women employed in making..willow-ware and cane chairs. c 1885 R. Collyer in J. H. Holmes Life & Lett. (1917) I. ii. 24 A great rack for the pewter dishes and willow ware. |
| 1850 ‘Bat’ Crick. Man. 45 The way to use the *willow weapon. |
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 379 *Willow Weed or French Willow. 1855 Tennyson Brook 46 And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. 1866 Treas. Bot., Willow-weed, Lythrum Salicaria; also Polygonum lapathifolium. |
| 1903 Times 13 July 11/6 Wily *willow-wielders. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 292 The goodman..from a corner nigh Took up some *willow-withes. |
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 4 The charcoal of *willow-wood is preferred, by many, for the manufacture of gunpowder. 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 61 Wheels..made of..willow-wood. |
| 1896 E. G. Lodeman Spray. Plants 373 *Willow-worm; Antiopa Butterfly (Vanessa Antiopa). |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 753 As Betonie breakes friendship's ancient bands, So *Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 307 In an Hollow made by the falling of the Water in the Rains, grows Willow-wort. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Salicaria, Willow-wort or spiked Lose⁓strife. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 254 Salicaceæ. Willow⁓worts. |
| 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. xi, And changed the *willow-wreaths to stone. |
| 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 266 The *willow-wren frequents large moist woods. 1882 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 556 Aug. 16th, Willow-wrens had deserted the furze bushes and hedges. |
| 1870 John Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack 91 With *willow wielders like these, it is no wonder Notts holds the high position it does as a batting shire. |
d. In uses containing an allusion to the willow as a symbol of mourning or of being lovelorn.
| 1585 in Chappell Old Engl. Pop. Mus. (1893) 110, I wylbe the turtle most stedfast [still] to the: & paciently were this grene wyllow garland. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 228 Tell him, in hope hee'l proue a widower shortly, I weare the Willow Garland for his sake. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 112 Still for to weare the Willow wreath. 1638 Ford Fancies iii. iii, A knot of Willow Ribbands. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To Willow-tree 7 When once the Lovers Rose is dead,..Then Willow-garlands, 'bout the head, Bedew'd with teares, are worne. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. 36 This willow-wearing fair one. 1833 ― Parson's Dau. i. xii, The..willow-wearers at Ullsford. |
e. quasi-adj. = willowy a. 2. See also
quot. a 1700.
| 1634 S. R. Noble Soldier iv. i. F i b, I yeelded With willow-bendings to commanding breaths. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Willow, Poor, and of no Reputation. 1875 M. E. Braddon Strange World ii, Tall, slim, and willow-waisted. |
f. Short for
willow pattern (sense 6 c above), as
willow cup,
willow plate,
willow pottery. See also
willow ware (a).
| 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. x. 179 It would look jolly with blue willow cups and plates on it. 1928 T. S. Eliot in E. Pound Sel. Poems p. xvii, People who like Willow pottery and Chinesische-Turms in Munich and Kew. 1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) xi. 142 In contrast, the laburnums..curved earthward with willow-plate grace. |
Add:
[1.] e. A pale green shade or tint of the colour of willow leaves;
= willow-green, sense 6 below.
| 1922 Index to Color Names & Color Numbers (U.S. Textile Color Card Assoc.) 15 Willow. 1963 New Yorker 1 June 112/3 (Advt.), Edged with scalloped shells in rich pastels—cherry, coral, cornflower, taffy, willow or robin's egg blue. 1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden xi. 111 Green was hope, but sea-green was inconstancy. Violet was religion, and willow was forsaken. 1983 Harrods Mag. Christmas 176/1 (caption) Wool jacket with leather collar. Charcoal, Clover Brown or Willow. |
▪ II. ˈwillow, v. [f. willow n. 4.] trans. To put (cotton, etc.) through a willow.
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 330 It must be willowed..in an appropriate manner, by machines differing in structure and adjustment for different qualities of goods. |