garland

Etymology

From Middle English garland, garlaunde, gerland, from Old French garlande, garlaunde, gerlande, guerlande (compare French guirlande), from Frankish *wierlōn, *wieralōn, a frequentative form of Frankish *wierōn (“to adorn, bedeck”), from *wiera (“a gold thread”), from or related to Proto-Germanic *wīraz. Akin to Old High German wieren (“to adorn”), Old High German wiara (“gold thread”). More at wire.

noun

1. A wreath, especially one of plaited flowers or leaves, worn on the body or draped as a decoration.
2. An accolade or mark of honour.
3. (mining) A metal gutter placed round a mineshaft on the inside, to catch water running down inside the shaft and run it into a drainpipe.
4. The crown of a monarch.
5. (dated) A book of extracts in prose or poetry; an anthology.
   They [ballads] began to be collected into little miscellanies under the name of garlands. 1765, Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
6. The top; the thing most prized.
7. (nautical) A sort of netted bag used by sailors to keep provisions in.
8. (nautical) A grommet or ring of rope lashed to a spar for convenience in handling.

verb

1. (transitive) To deck or ornament something with a garland.
   Anand disembarks like a statesman from the Volkswagen to be garlanded immediately by five different women. 2008, Preeta Samarasan, Evening is the Whole Day, Fourth Estate, page 206
2. (transitive) To form something into a garland.