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tress

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L329588 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /tɹɛs/

name

Etymology: Two main origins: * An English surname of unexplained origin. * A surname borrowed from German Tress.

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English tresse, from Old French tresce, of uncertain origin; possibly from Vulgar Latin *trichia, from Ancient Greek τριχία (trikhía, “rope”), from θρίξ (thríx, “hair”). Compare French tresse, Italian treccia.

  1. A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet.

    nor was the doom / of guilty deed, but of a hapless wight / to sudden madness stung, ere ripe to die, / therefore the Queen of Hades had not shorn / the fair tress from her forehead, nor assigned / that soul to Stygian dark.

    “Mercy! If I had a husband whose business it was to look at women's beautiful eyes, peachy cheeks, and luxurious tresses, I should go crazy! […]”

  2. A long lock of hair.
  3. A knot or festoon, as of flowers.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English tresse, from Old French tresce, of uncertain origin; possibly from Vulgar Latin *trichia, from Ancient Greek τριχία (trikhía, “rope”), from θρίξ (thríx, “hair”). Compare French tresse, Italian treccia.

  1. To braid or knot hair.