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withe.

A flexible, slender shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding; a withy.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/wɪθ/Received-Pronunciation/wɪð/Received-Pronunciation/waɪð/Received-Pronunciation/wɪθ/General-American

  1. A flexible, slender shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding; a withy.

  2. A band of twisted twigs.

  3. An elastic handle to a tool to save the hand from the shock of blows.

  4. An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured.

  5. Alternative spelling of wythe (“single section of bricks one unit thick”).

    alt-of · alternative

  6. Alternative spelling of wythe (“partition between flues in a chimney”).

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

From Middle English withe, from Old English wiþþe (“band, tie”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþjǭ (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis (“that which twines”), from *weyt- (“that which winds or bends, branch, switch”), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”). Cognates Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Icelandic viðja (“willow”), Swedish vidja (“withe”), French guiche (“strap; kiss-curl”), Italian guiggia (“armstrap; sandal strap”), Finnish vitja (“chain; ponyfoot”), vitsa (“birch; twig, wicker”), Ingrian vitsa (“branch, twig”), Livonian vitsā (“twig; strap”), Veps vic (“twig”), Votic vittsõ (“cane; twig; wire”); also Irish féith (“calm, still; smooth; bashful, shy”), Manx feagh (“calm, docile, still”), Scottish Gaelic fèath (“calm”), Welsh gwden (“withe; snare; noose”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Greek ιτιά (itiá, “willow”), Old Prussian witwan (“willow”), Belarusian ве́йка (vjéjka, “eyelash”), Czech větev (“branch”), Old Polish wiećw (“vine branch”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”), Slovak vetva (“branch”), Slovene veja (“branch”), Ukrainian віта (vita, “branch, twig”), Armenian գի (gi, “juniper tree; cypress”), գիհի (gihi, “juniper tree”), Central Kurdish بی (bî, “willow”), Northern Kurdish bî (“willow; poplar”), Pashto وله (wala, “willow”), Persian بید (bēd / bid, “willow”), Sanskrit वेत्र (vetra, “large tree; cane”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.

verb/wɪθ/Received-Pronunciation/wɪð/Received-Pronunciation/waɪð/Received-Pronunciation/wɪθ/General-American

  1. To bind with withes.

    transitive

  2. To beat with withes.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English withe, from Old English wiþþe (“band, tie”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþjǭ (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis (“that which twines”), from *weyt- (“that which winds or bends, branch, switch”), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”). Cognates Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Icelandic viðja (“willow”), Swedish vidja (“withe”), French guiche (“strap; kiss-curl”), Italian guiggia (“armstrap; sandal strap”), Finnish vitja (“chain; ponyfoot”), vitsa (“birch; twig, wicker”), Ingrian vitsa (“branch, twig”), Livonian vitsā (“twig; strap”), Veps vic (“twig”), Votic vittsõ (“cane; twig; wire”); also Irish féith (“calm, still; smooth; bashful, shy”), Manx feagh (“calm, docile, still”), Scottish Gaelic fèath (“calm”), Welsh gwden (“withe; snare; noose”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Greek ιτιά (itiá, “willow”), Old Prussian witwan (“willow”), Belarusian ве́йка (vjéjka, “eyelash”), Czech větev (“branch”), Old Polish wiećw (“vine branch”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”), Slovak vetva (“branch”), Slovene veja (“branch”), Ukrainian віта (vita, “branch, twig”), Armenian գի (gi, “juniper tree; cypress”), գիհի (gihi, “juniper tree”), Central Kurdish بی (bî, “willow”), Northern Kurdish bî (“willow; poplar”), Pashto وله (wala, “willow”), Persian بید (bēd / bid, “willow”), Sanskrit वेत्र (vetra, “large tree; cane”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.