wreathe

Etymology

From Middle English wrethen (“to twist”), partly a back-formation of Middle English wrethen, writhen ("wreathed, twisted"; > modern English wreathen), past participle of wrythen (“to writhe”); and partly from Middle English wrethe (“wreath”).

verb

1. (transitive) To twist, curl or entwine something into a shape similar to a wreath.
   But how should I avoid to be her slave, Whose subtle art invisibly can wreathe My fetters of the very air I breathe? 1681, Andrew Marvell, The Fair Singer, lines 10–12
2. (transitive) To form a wreathlike shape around something.
3. (intransitive) To curl, writhe or spiral in the form of a wreath.
   I unsealed the vial mystical, I outpoured the liquid thing, And while the smoke came wreathing out, I stood unshuddering. 1833, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A True Dream, New York: Macmillan, published 1914
4. (obsolete) To turn violently aside or around; to wrench.