Middle English Dictionary Entry
tres(se n.
Entry Info
| Forms | tres(se n. Pl. tres(s)es, tresces, trisses, (early SW) tressene & (?error) trussis, (error) dresses. |
| Etymology | OF trece, tresce, tresse. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A lock or length of hair, esp. when bound or braided, a coil, braid;—usu. pl.; also, the hair of the head; ?~ wir, a net for confining the hair, headdress [? = tressour n. (a)]; (b) in fig. context: sunrays or moonbeams emanating from personified heavenly bodies in the manner of locks streaming from the head; (c) her. a stylized rendering of a plait, lock, or tress of hair used as a device.
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 11 Pains(2) (LdMisc 108)p.35 : Some bi þe fiet weren an hongue, And some bi heore tresses longue.
- c1330(?a1300) Arth.& M.(Auch)8480 : Wawain..An heþen swain sone doun stett, Þe leuedis tresse sone vnknett.
- a1350 SLeg.Juliana (Ashm 43)46 : Hi nome and henge hire up abem; bi þe tresses [Corp-C: trassours] of hire here.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Ph.(Manly-Rickert)C.37 : This mayde of age twelf yeer was and tweye..And Phebus dyed hath hir tresses [vrr. dresses, treses] grete Lyk to the stremes of his burned hete.
- (a1393) Gower CA (Frf 3)5.5464 : Hire faire trescess sche todrouh, And with hirself tok such a strif.
- a1425(?a1400) RRose (Htrn 409)779 : Ful fetys damyseles two..faire tressed every tresse, Hadde myrthe doon..Amydde the karole forto daunce.
- a1425 Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Wel 225)454/1748-9 : Sum sais þat attrikis are said..of trica, for a tress, for wha þat has þe attrykys, hys taile end is buddy & knotty as a tress.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)502 : Tresse, of heere: Trica.
- a1450(1408) Vegetius(1) (Dc 291)165/31 : Þe..wommen of Rome, when þei herde telle þat her housbondes lakkede heer and zenewes to make strynges for her schot, þei kutte of her tresses [vr. trussis] and heer of hire heuedes & broghte to þe fighters.
- c1450(c1380) Chaucer HF (Benson-Robinson)230 : Achate Mette with Venus..Goynge in a queynt array As she had ben an hunteresse, With wynd blowynge upon hir tresse.
- a1500(?c1450) Merlin (Cmb Ff.3.11)298 : Taurus hir heilde be the tresses and drough hir after his horse.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)792/18 : Tricatura: a tresewyr.
- c1540(?a1400) Destr.Troy (Htrn 388)3026 : The shede þurghe the shyre here..Depertid the proudfall pertly in two, Atiret in tressis trusset full faire.
- c1600(c1350) Alex.Maced.(Grv 60)179 : Hee had a suster..Olympias..With large forhed and long loveliche tresses Glisiande as gold-wire.
b
- a1450(?c1421) Lydg.ST (Arun 119)4258 : Phebus was passyd merydyen And fro the south westward gan hym drawe, his gylte tressys to bathen in the wawe.
- c1500(?a1437) ?Jas.I KQ (SeldArch B.24)st.1 : In Aquary, Citherea the clere Rynsid hir tressis like the goldin wyre.
c
- (c1475) Exped.Edw.IV (Arms 2M.16)30 : The lord Grey Codon..tresse passant Thorough Croune gold; wyth in the Compase of the tresse a grei silu[er].
2.
(a) A cord, binding, net, etc. for confining the hair; (b) a lace, braided cord, etc. for fastening armor; also [quot. a1486 Arms Chivalry], ?a length of such cord; ?a measurement of length for points or laces.
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 SLeg.(LdMisc 108)325/82 : Heo drovȝ of hire tressene [Hrl: traceours] and caste a-wei.
- c1330 7 Sages(1) (Auch)17/345 : Wiȝ boþe honden here ȝaulew here Out of þe tresses sche hit tere.
b
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)3.107 : Many on was besy for to naille His felawis harneis..And to dresse it..With poyntes, tresses, and oþer maner þing, Þat in swyche cas longyth to armyng.
- a1486 Arms Chivalry (Mrg M 775)44 : The day that the Pelaunt and the defendaunt shall fighte, what they shall have wt hem in to the felde..A dosen tresses [vr. trisses] of armynge poyntis, [etc.].
- a1486 Jousts of Peace (Mrg M 775)40 : A hanscement for the Bode wt slevis, A botton wt a tresse in þe platis, A schelde coverid wt his deviis.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?a1475 PParv.(Win)493 : Trest or corfe: Coma.
Note: New spelling: Also (error) trest.
Note: It is likely that "corfe" belongs to coif(e n.
Note: Belongs to sense 1.(a).--notes per MLL