Pa. t. and pple. braided. Forms: 1 breʓdan, (bræʓdan), brédan, 3 breden, 3–4 breide(n, 4–5 breyde, 4–6 brayd(e, (5 brede, 5–7 brade, 8 dial. breead), 5– braid. Pa. t. 1 bræʓd, brǽd, pl. bruʓdon, brúdon, 3 bræid, breod, pl. brudden, 3–4 breid(e, 4 brede, 4–5 breyde, 4–6 braid(e, brayd(e, 5–6 brayed, brayded, 7 bred, bradde, 4– braided. Pa. pple. 1 broʓden, bróden, 3–5 broiden, 4 brayden, brawden, browden, 4–6 broyden, 5 brait, -ed, brayded, 7 breaded, 8– braided, dial. breed. [Com. Teut.: OE. breʓdan (pa. t. bræʓd, bruʓdon, pple. broʓden) = OS. bregdan (MDu. breiden, Du. breien), OHG. brettan (MHG. bretten), ON. bregða:—OTeut. *bregd-an (extended from *breg-), with root-meaning ‘to pull quickly hither and thither, to move suddenly to and fro.’ In OE. the ǽ of the root was often omitted, with lengthening of the vowel (brédan, brǽd, brúdon, bróden), but the diphthongal form (breyde, etc.) prevailed in ME. The pa. pple. had in 13–15th c. the form broyden, in 14–16th browden, sometimes in 14–15th c. brawden; the phonetic history of which presents some difficulties. By 1400 the original strong pa. t. was displaced by the weak brayded, which in the 15th c. had also extended to the pa. pple., though browden continued in Sc. at least till 1600. From the strong forms of the pa. pple. appear to have arisen the newer synonymous weak verbs BROID, BROWD), BRAWDE q.v.; see also BROIDER, browder, brawder.]
I. To make a sudden jerky movement (originally off or away to one side).
† 1. trans. To make a sudden movement with (the hand, foot, etc.); to brandish (a spear); to deal (a blow). In OE. const. with instrumental case, afterwards treated as simple object. Obs.
a. 1000. Beowulf, 1033. Þar ǽit … mundur bruǽdon.
c. 1300. K. Alis., 7373. On a stede wel y-dyght: He ryt his spere braydyng.
c. 1325. Coer de L., 411. Another stroke he hym brayde.
c. 1450. Henryson, Mor. Fab., 75. The Wolfe braid foorth his fute, the Man his hand.
c. 1505. Dunbar, in Maitland Poems, 5 (Jam.). I wald na langer beir on brydil, bot braid up my heid.
† 2. To draw (a sword, knife, etc.). (Const. orig. with instrumental case as in 1; cf. ON. bregða sverði; but in later OE. app. regarded as an application of sense 3.) Obs.
[Beowulf, 3333. Ic þy wæpne ǽebræd.]
a. 1000. Battle of Maldon, 163. Byrhtnoð bræd bill of scæðe.
c. 1205. Lay., 15260. Heo breoden ut þe sæxes.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 229. Þe envenomed knyfe out braid, & gaf Edward a wounde.
c. 1450. Henryson, Mor. Fab., 30. Out of his breste ane bill can hee braid.
c. 1500. Felon Sewe Rokeby, in R. Bell, Anc. Ballads (1857), 136. Hee brayded out hys brande.
† 3. To jerk, snatch, wrench, fling, etc., with a sudden effort; freq. with up, down, out. Obs.
a. 1000. Battle of Maldon, 154. Se … bræd of ðæm beorne blodiǽne gar.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 217. Ich triste þat he … wille of þis werȝes grune mine fet breiden.
1297. R. Glouc., 22. A gret ok he wolde breide a doun, as it a smal ȝerde were.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, 1678. Oute hys trumpe of golde he brayde … and set it to his mouth.
1388. Wyclif, Ps. xxiv. [xxv.] 15. He schal breide awey my feet fro the snare [1382 he shal pullen up].
a. 1400. Octouian, 461. And breyde away with hard roun The grypes wynge.
† b. Naut. To braid up (the sails). Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1945. [He] braid vp a brode saile, hade brethe at his wille.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., ix. 40. Brade vp close all them sailes.
† 4. To deliver with a brisk action. Obs.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., A. 711. Burnez her barnez vnto hym brayde.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2377. He … brayde broþely þe belt to þe burne seluen.
† 5. intr. To start, usually out of sleep or a swoon; to awake; also to start or burst into motion; to rush, spring or dart; fig. to start (‘out of one’s wit’); also used refl. in same sense. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 26454. Walwain bræid to sweorden.
a. 1300. Havelok, 1282. Of his slep a-non he brayd.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 2099. For angre sche braid hure wel neȝ wod.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Franklin’s T., 299. ffor verray wo out of his wit he breyde.
c. 1440. Generydes, 165. Right sodenly he brayded and he wooke.
c. 1450. Henryson, Mor. Fab., 20. They braded ouer the bent, As fire off flint.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. ii. 51. Furth at the ilk port wyndis braid in a rowt.
1603. Philotus, cxxix. Quhat is the mater … Quhat garris yow braid?
† b. trans. To rouse, startle. Obs. rare.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., A. 1169. Þat brathe out of my drem me brayde.
† 6. intr. To break forth abruptly into speech; to burst into a cry. Obs.
c. 1000. Guthlac, 878 (Gr.). Wop ahofon, hleoðrum bruʓdon.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 2072. The lyon … brayded als he had bene wode.
a. 1547. Earl Surrey, Æneid, iv. 476. And foorth in rage at last thus gan she brayde.
† b. trans. To ejaculate, burst out with. Obs.
1562. Leigh, Armorie, 166. His irefull hart straight braided out wrothful wordes.
II. To change suddenly or abruptly.
† 7. intr. To make a change. Const. with instrumental case (cf. ON. bregða búi, tiöldum, to change one’s abode, strike tents). Only in OE.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Exodus, 222 (Gr.). Brudon feldhusum [= they struck their tents].
† 8. intr. To change in color or appearance. In OE. with instrumental case (or on = into). Obs. Cf. BRAIDED b.
a. 1000. Salomon & Sat., 150 (Gr.). Næfre hie ðæs syllice bleoum breʓdað.
a. 1000. Guthlac, 882 (Gr.). Bruʓdon eft awyrʓdo wærloʓan on wyrmes bleo.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, III. i. (1554), 69 b. With thy giftes who that hath to done Of chaunges braideth ofter than the Mone. Ibid., Min. Poems, 24. All worldly thing braidith upon tyme.
† 9. refl. To assume an appearance, act a part.
c. 1205. Lay., 6667. Þe king hine bræid [c. 1275 breid] sæc alse þeah hit seoð weore.
† 10. intr. To braid of, formerly after, on: to take after, resemble, be like. Still dial. [Cf. ON. bregðr einum til eins.]
c. 1205. Lay., 6895. Wel he braid [c. 1275 dude] on deade efter his alderen.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, III. xxi. 93 b. Which froward monster … Braydeth on Hidra.
c. 1505. Dunbar, Discr. in Asking, 13. Sum schamis to ask, as braidis of me.
1691. Ray, N. C. Wds., Breid of, Brade of, to be like in conditions: ‘Ye breid of the miller’s dog; ye lick your mouth or the poke be ope.’
1864. Atkinson, Whitby Gloss., s.v., ‘You breead o’ me, you don’t like noise.’
III. To pull a thread to and fro, intertwine. [A Common Teutonic sense.]
11. trans. To twist in and out, intertwine, interweave, plait; to embroider; to make (a garland, cord, fabric) by intertwining, twisting or plaiting. (Now in ordinary Eng. only poet. or dial. except as applied to the hair, in which use it appears to be now interpreted as ‘to arrange in braids.’)
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram., xxviii. § 5. 176. Plecto, ic brede net.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 236. For pine … he breideð þe crune of blisse.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 645. Mi nest … is broiden al abute.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1008. Wit blis and beild broiden best.
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 237. They taughten him a lace to braide.
1530. Palsgr., 471/1. I broyde heare, or a lace, or suche lyke. Je tortille, Brayde your heare up.
1686. Goad, Celest. Bodies, III. iii. 475. They are Plaited and Breaded in the same Twine.
1753. Hogarth, Anal. Beauty, v. 28. Part of the hair of their heads, braided together from behind.
1848. Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850), 211. The rich golden hair partly braided.
1883. G. C. Davies, Norfolk Broads, xxxii. 249. They [the nets for eel-sets] are braided or made in the winter.
1884. Mary E. Wilkins, in Harper’s Mag., July, 302/2. She … wove rag carpets, pieced bed-quilts, braided rugs, etc.
b. transf. To ‘thread the mazes’ of the dance; to cross and recross.
1813. Scott, Trierm., III. xxi. When the whirlwind’s gusts are wheeling, Ours it is the dance to braid.
1875. B. Taylor, Faust, xxi. I. 181. Here winds away, and in a hundred divided veins the valley braids.
IV. [Mod. f. BRAID sb. 5 and 6.]
12. trans. To bind or confine (the hair) with a braid or ribbon, or something equivalent. (Retained by modern poets from braid the hair in sense 11, but applied in another sense.)
1793. Southey, Triumph Wom., 31. With roseate wreaths they braid the glossy hair.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., III. v. Yet ne’er again to braid her hair The virgin snood did Alice wear. Ibid. (1813), Rokeby, III. xxviii. A weary lot is thine, fair maid … To pull the thorn thy brow to braid.
13. trans. a. To ornament or trim with braid. b. To outline (a design for point-lace work) by means of braid (see BRAID sb. 6 b). c. To manufacture braid; to weave (material) into braid (see also BRAIDER, BRAIDING-MACHINE).
1848. Miss Yonge, Abbeychurch, xi. 232. You have been six months braiding that frock.
1874. Cassell’s Househ. Guide, I. 225. When the whole design has been braided.
Mod. ‘They braid slippers for curates.’
