Wattled

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Made by weaving together strips of material such as wood or branches ; possessing a hanging fleshy growth on the head or neck, like a bird's caruncle
2. Formed using interlaced rods or twigs to create a framework or fence ; characterized by a loose, pendulous flap of skin usually found on the neck of certain animals or birds
3. Built by interweaving flexible strips into a lattice structure ; displaying a distinctive fleshy protuberance that dangles from the throat or face area

Etymology: "Wattled" is the past form of "wattle," so its story is really the story of the noun. In Old English, "watel" or "watul" meant a hurdle: a woven panel of interlaced sticks used as a fence, gate, or temporary wall. Those hurdles were built by weaving flexible branches around upright posts, a method that gave the material its name. The word passed into Middle English as "wattel" and "watel" with the same sense. Its deeper roots lie in a Proto-Indo-European verb meaning "to turn, wind, bend," which describes exactly what a weaver does with pliable wood. The same idea of bending and winding is behind many words for woven or wound things, so "wattle" is a plain, practical name for a fence made by bending branches around one another. When the word is used as an adjective, it describes something built or covered with such woven stick work, which is why the earlier sense of a rough fence still underlies it.

Synonyms: woven, braided