tress

Definition

A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet.

Etymology

From Middle English tresse, from Old French tresce, of uncertain origin; possibly from Vulgar Latin *trichia, from Ancient Greek τριχία (trikhía, “rope”), from θρίξ (thríx, “hair”). Compare French tresse, Italian treccia.

Example Sentences

• "nor was the doom / of guilty deed, but of a hapless wight / to sudden madness stung, ere ripe to die, / therefore the Queen of Hades had not shorn / the fair tress from her forehead, nor assigned / that soul to Stygian dark."
• "Even without theatrical shoes on, Erlys was taller than Luca Zombini, and kept her fair hair in a Psyche knot, out of which the less governable tresses continued, with the day, to escape."