Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A wreath or festoon, especially one of plaited flowers or leaves, worn on the body or draped as a decoration.
  • noun A representation of such a wreath or festoon, used as an architectural ornament or heraldic device.
  • noun A mark of honor or tribute; an accolade.
  • noun Nautical A ring or collar of rope used to hoist spars or prevent fraying.
  • noun An anthology, as of ballads or poems.
  • transitive verb To ornament or deck with a garland.
  • transitive verb To form into a garland.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 1. A royal crown; a diadem; any crown, as, figuratively, of martyrdom.
  • noun A wreath; a string of flowers or leaves, intended to be festooned or hung round a person or an object for ornament in token of festivity, or to be worn as a wreath or chaplet on the head: in the latter case, often conferred in former times as a mark of admiration or honor, especially for poetic or artistic excellence.
  • noun Hence— A string or series of literary gems; a collection of choice short pieces in poetry or prose; an anthology.
  • noun Figuratively, the top; the principal thing, or thing most prized.
  • noun In heraldry, same as chaplet, 3.
  • noun A sort of bag of network, having the mouth extended by a hoop, used by sailors instead of a locker or cupboard to hold provisions.
  • noun In mining, a wooden or cast-iron curb set in the walling of a shaft, to catch and carry away any water coming down its sides.
  • noun Nautical, a name given to a band, collar, or grommet of ropes, used for various purposes.
  • To deck with a garland or garlands.
  • To make into a wreath or garland.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To deck with a garland.
  • noun obsolete The crown of a king.
  • noun A wreath of chaplet made of branches, flowers, or feathers, and sometimes of precious stones, to be worn on the head like a crown; a coronal; a wreath.
  • noun The top; the thing most prized.
  • noun A book of extracts in prose or poetry; an anthology.
  • noun A sort of netted bag used by sailors to keep provision in.
  • noun A grommet or ring of rope lashed to a spar for convenience in handling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A wreath, especially one of plaited flowers or leaves, worn on the body or draped as a decoration
  • noun An accolade or mark of honour
  • noun coalminers' jargon a metal gutter placed round a mine shaft on the inside, to catch water running down inside the shaft and run it into a drainpipe
  • verb transitive To deck or ornament something with a garland
  • verb transitive To form something into a garland

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a city in northeastern Texas (suburb of Dallas)
  • verb adorn with bands of flowers or leaves
  • noun United States singer and film actress (1922-1969)
  • noun flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes
  • noun an anthology of short literary pieces and poems and ballads etc.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French garlande, perhaps of Germanic origin; see wei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French gerlande (compare French guirlande).

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Examples

  • The term garland was also technically used to signify a crown of precious metal, often adorned with gems, made for the arrangement of natural or artificial flowers before the altar or sacred image at festival times.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913

  • The beach garland is sunburned, a silt shopworn, hot, as well as full of waste -- no place for upon foot barefoot.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • The beach garland is sunburned, a silt shopworn, hot, as well as full of waste -- no place for upon foot barefoot.

    The Original Generation X, 1954-63 by Joshua Glenn admin 2009

  • Her garland is tangled in a string of pearls and her father is aghast as she snaps the string and "amid a shower of pearls," the flowers fall.

    “Some day, all the fools will be dead....” 2008

  • Keeping in mind that a garland is a traditional symbol of a young girl's virginity, here are the final lines: True, mother, true.

    Archive 2006-02-01 Will 2006

  • It took a large number of lehua flowers to suffice for a wreath, and to bind them securely to the fillet that made them a garland was a work demanding not only artistic skill hut time and patience.

    Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula Nathaniel Bright Emerson 1877

  • As she passed the marble Dancing Girl, she seized the wreath that was thrown over its arm, and as she went circling round, it seemed as if the tune had become a visible spirit, and that the garland was a floating accompaniment to its graceful motions.

    A romance of the republic 1867

  • I knew that thou wouldst go abroad to-day, so I made this for thee in the morning; and when I was young I was called the garland-maker.

    The Well at the World's End: a tale William Morris 1865

  • On the top of the garland was the model of a ship, full-rigged, with sails set and colours flying.

    Peter the Whaler William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • The BSP leaders in Lucknow pointed out that there was no need for an inquiry, as the garland was a gift from party workers.

    Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Views' 2010

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