tress

[tres]

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noun

Usually tresses. long locks or curls of hair.

a plait or braid of hair.

Origin of tress

1250–1300; Middle English tresse < Middle French: plait or braid of hair < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tresses

braid, lock, curl, plait, ringlet

Examples from the Web for tresses

Contemporary Examples of tresses

Though Free began dyeing her tresses four years ago, only recently has she become sought after for her unique hair color.
Pink Hair Hits the Fashion World
Isabel Wilkinson
October 8, 2011
He trims your tresses and his assistant Dora blows you out to perfection.
Gal With a Suitcase: New York's Best Pampering Spots
Jolie Hunt
February 11, 2011
These tresses cannot be maintained by any barber and need special attention.
The Real Jersey Dictionary, Vol. 2
Jaimie Etkin
October 21, 2010

Historical Examples of tresses

The tresses of this lady were shining and black, like the plumage of the raven.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
It was Venus rising from the waves with no veil save her tresses.
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola
The crown of her tresses as she walked beside him was at his shoulder.
The World Beyond
Raymond King Cummings
Hunted his howling host, his Thyiads with tresses dishevelled.
The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus
Caius Valerius Catullus
Diane blushed, but put up a hand and began to uncoil the tresses.
Fort Amity
Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for tresses

tress

noun

(often plural) a lock of hair, esp a long lock of woman's hair

a plait or braid of hair

verb

(tr) to arrange in tresses

Derived Formstressy, adjective

Word Origin for tress

C13: from Old French trece, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tresses

tress

late 13c., "long lock of hair," from Old French tresse "a plait or braid of hair" (12c.), perhaps from Vulgar Latin *trichia "braid, rope," from Greek trikhia "rope," from thrix (genitive trikhos) "hair." Related: Tresses.