withe

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a slender, flexible twig or shoot, especially one used for binding

   They tied the bundle of logs with a green birch withe.

2. 2
   noun

   a band or rope made from twisted flexible twigs

   The improvised withe held the fence rails together through the winter.

3. 3
   verb

   archaic: to bind with flexible twigs or withes

   Workers would withe the reeds into compact bundles.

From Middle English withe and Old English withthe, 'cord, band, or fetter,' from a Germanic word for something that bends or twines. It is related to withy and ultimately to the family of Latin vitis, 'vine.'

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