to wear the willow
Preserved but no longer current.
To go into mourning, especially for a sweetheart or bride. The willow, especially the weeping willow, has from time immemorial been associated with sorrow and taken as an emblem of desolation or desertion.
Đi vào thời kỳ tang thương, đặc biệt là cho người yêu hoặc cô dâu, với cây liễu được coi là biểu tượng của nỗi buồn và bỏ rơi
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to wear the willow” mean?
To go into mourning, especially for a sweetheart or bride. The willow, especially the weeping willow, has from time immemorial been associated with sorrow and taken as an emblem of desolation or desertion.
Is “to wear the willow” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.