hardwood

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɑɹdˌwʊd/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English hard + wood.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The wood or timber of deciduous trees, as distinguished from that of pines and firs (1568).^[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

The Historical Thesaurus records the plain meaning “wood that is hard” from 1485, later narrowed to the wood of broadleaved trees.^[7] The botanical sense, wood from a flowering (angiosperm) tree as opposed to a conifer, takes in both the softest and the hardest woods,^[3][8] so the name no longer says anything about hardness.^[1] In some places it meant oak in particular.^[5] In Maine in the 1840s, Bartlett reported, shipwrights and farmers used it of beech, birch, maple and ash, as opposed to oak and pine.^[9][2] In Australia it was applied to several local timbers resembling teak and, in Tasmania, to any eucalyptus timber.^[10][5] The tree itself is called a hardwood from 1721 in the Historical Thesaurus (1905 in the OED).^[7][5] In informal American use a basketball court is the hardwood.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1485 – hard wood in general (Historical Thesaurus).^[7]
• 1568 – the timber of deciduous trees.^[5][6][2]
• 1721 – a broadleaved tree (Historical Thesaurus).^[7]
• circa 1817 – as an adjective, made of hardwood.^[6][3]
• 1848 – Bartlett's note on its use in Maine.^[9][2]
• 1888 – Australian quotations in Morris.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The wood of a broadleaved, flowering (dicotyledonous) tree, such as oak, beech or ash, as distinguished from that of a conifer.
2. A tree that yields such wood.
3. (gardening) Mature, woody growth on shrubs and other plants, from which cuttings are taken.
4. (informal) A basketball court.

Adjective

1. Made of hardwood.
2. Consisting of mature woody tissue.

Related words

• softwood
• timber
• lumber

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ a b Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
10. ^ a b Morris, Edward E. (1898), Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages, London: Macmillan