different between withe vs widdy

English

Etymology

From Middle English withe, withthe, from Old English wiþe, wiþþe (“cord, band, thong, fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþj? (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *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 v?tis (“vine”). Doublet of vice.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?th, w?th, w?th
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /w??/, /w?ð/, /wa?ð/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /w??/, /w?ð/

Noun

withe (plural withes)

1. A flexible, slender twig or shoot, 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. (nautical) 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. (architecture) A partition between flues in a chimney.

Translations

Verb

withe (third-person singular simple present withes, present participle withing, simple past and past participle withed)

1. To bind with withes.
2. To beat with withes.

Anagrams

• White, white

English

Etymology 1

Compare withy.

Noun

widdy (plural widdies)

1. (Scotland) A rope or halter made of flexible twigs, or withes, as of birch.

Etymology 2

Noun

widdy (plural widdies)

1. Pronunciation spelling of widow.
   • 1877 — Gilbert & Sullivan, The Sorcerer

     I'm no saucy minx and giddy—
     Hussies such as them abound—
     But a clean and tidy widdy
     Well be-known for miles around.