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Vinony

willow

noun

  1. type of tree
L48265 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈwɪl.əʊ/ / /ˈwɪloʊ/

name

Etymology: From willow.

  1. A female given name from English of modern usage.

    “Before he died her father had run a nursery just outside the town. He loved trees so much he'd even named his two daughters and one son after them: Willow, Ashley and Oak.”

  2. A census-designated place in Alaska.
  3. A town in Oklahoma.
  4. A town in Wisconsin.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).

  1. Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.

    “[…] and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.”

    “And willows, willow-herb, and grass, / And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, / No whit less still and lonely fair / Than the high cloudlets in the sky.”

  2. The wood of these trees.
  3. A cricket bat.
  4. The baseball bat.
  5. A rotating spiked drum used to open and clean cotton heads.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English welig, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).

  1. To open and cleanse (cotton, flax, wool, etc.) by means of a willow.
  2. To form a shape or move in a way similar to the long, slender branches of a willow.

    “Willowing over the rough cobbles of the little pier stepped a thin, bent figure, adorned with a silver nanny-goat's beard and bobbling eyes interrupted by the rim of a pair of pince-nez.”

    “Joe’s impulse was to sketch her, with her shadow willowing beyond her on the mouse-gray paving-stone; but his left fist, obeying instinct, remained clenched behind his back […]”