withe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wĭth
enpr: wīth
ipa: /wɪθ/
ipa: /wɪð/
ipa: /waɪð/
ipa: /wɪθ/
ipa: /wɪð/
rhymes: -ɪθ
rhymes: -ɪð
rhymes: -aɪð
Forms: form: withes
Etymology: From Middle English withe, withthe, from Old English wiþe, wiþþe (“cord, band, thong, fetter”), 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”). Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Swedish vidja (“withe, wicker, osier”), Icelandic við, viðja (“a withe”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.
Senses: examples: text: It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours, by a withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the window-shutters;[…]
ref: 1810, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:
synonyms: winding
glosses: A flexible, slender shoot or twig, especially when used as a band or for binding; a withy.
examples: text: They deemed it little scathe indeed / That her coarse homespun ragged weed / Fell off from her round arms and lithe / Laid on the door-post, that a withe / Of willows was her only belt; / And each as he gazed at her felt / As some gift had been given him.
ref: 1870, William Morris, “December: The Fostering of Aslaug”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, part IV, London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, page 57:
glosses: A band of twisted twigs.
glosses: An elastic handle to a tool to save the hand from the shock of blows.
examples: text: Some short topgallant masts are rigged with a withe on the after part of the mast-head, through which a sliding-gunter royal-mast is run up, with its heel resting in a step on the topmast cap.
ref: 1841, Richard Henry Dana, The Seaman's Friend:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: 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.
examples: text: […] single withe of brick laid flat in common bond reinforced vertically by 8" piers
ref: 1937, American Architect and Architecture:
text: […] brick (single withe), one brick (two withes) or a brick-and-a-half thick. At the University of Virginia, Charlottesville , Thomas Jefferson demonstrated beautifully that a single withe of brick was adequate for[…]
ref: 1973, Encyclopaedia Britannica:
text: […] single-withe construction using concrete masonry units with the voids on the ends[…]
ref: 1994, James T. Frane, Craftsman's Illustrated Dictionary of Construction Terms, Craftsman Book Company, →ISBN, page 162:
text: […] single-withe, or barrier, wall. Multiple-withe walls are also constructed, and can consist of composite brick-block walls or cavity walls.
ref: 1994, Comité euro-international du béton, Fastenings to Concrete and Masonry Structures: State of the Art Report, Thomas Telford, →ISBN:
text: […] single withe of fired brick or stone masonry, referred to in Turkish as[…]
ref: 2001, Association for Preservation Technology, Bulletin - Association for Preservation Technology:
topics: business
construction
manufacturing
masonry
glosses: Alternative spelling of wythe (“single section of bricks one unit thick”).
examples: text: ... chimney space, and the joints of any two adjoining sets of flue linings shall be offset at least 7 inches. When there are more than two flues in a chimney, each third flue shall be separated from the others by a withe or division[…]
ref: 1920, National Board of Fire Underwriters. Committee on Construction of Buildings, An ordinance for construction of chimneys suitable for use in cities and towns of any size or as a state law, page 5:
text: ... flue intended for a heating furnace or boiler connection, or for a fireplace, shall be separated from other flues by such a withe. In hollow tile chimneys the withe may be of tile.
ref: 1922, Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning Guide, page 40:
text: ... flues should be separated by a 4-inch-wide brick spacer (withe) between them (fig. 170, A). The greater the difference in temperature between chimney gases and outside atmosphere, the better the draft.
ref: 2002, L. O. Anderson, Wood - Frame House Construction, The Minerva Group, Inc., →ISBN, page 182:
topics: architecture
glosses: Alternative spelling of wythe (“partition between flues in a chimney”).
Derived terms: green withe