poplar

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English popler, also poplere,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman popler,^[6][7][8] a variant of poplier (now peuplier),^[6][7][4] which is recorded in Old French from about 1170.^[6] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1240.^[9] The French word is from Old French pople (“poplar”), also peuple, with the tree-name suffix -ier,^[10][4][5] and the noun is from Latin pōpulus (“poplar”).^[6][7][10] The OED notes that the French pople is attested only from the mid-15th century, so the suffix may have been added directly to the Latin word.^[6] The Latin word has a long o and is not the same as the Latin word for "people", the source of popular.^[7][10] Its origin is unknown;^[7][5] Etymonline suggests a root Proto-Indo-European *p(y)el-, a tree name,^[7] and Klein takes it as probably cognate with Ancient Greek πτελέα (pteléa, “elm”).^[4] The Latin word is also the source of Italian pioppo, Spanish chopo and German Pappel,^[7][4] and the French word of Middle Dutch popelier and Dutch populier.^[6] An older English name of the tree, popple, came directly from the Latin word.^[8][11][12] The spelling with -ar appears in the 16th century, as in briar, cedar and medlar.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of the tall, fast-growing trees of the genus Populus: 1371, in a Close Roll of Edward III.^[6] Barnhart dates the form popler to 1356,^[5][13] but the OED cannot tell whether its records from 1326 and 1356 are Anglo-Norman or English.^[6] The word occurs earlier in place names, as Popler (1327) and Populer (1346), now Poplar in Middlesex.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

From the tree the word passed to its soft, pale wood before 1450;^[6] from 1562 it was also used with a distinguishing word for a particular kind of poplar.^[6] From 1700 it was applied to trees of other families that resemble it, especially the North American tulip tree, called tulip poplar or yellow poplar.^[6][14][15] Johnson (1755) described its broad, angular leaves and its catkins.^[16] The tall, columnar variety is the Lombardy poplar.^[7][17]

Timeline

• 1371 – the tree.^[6]
• before 1450 – the wood of the poplar.^[6]
• 1562 – a particular kind of poplar, with a distinguishing word.^[6]
• 1700 – trees of other families, especially the tulip tree.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of a genus (Populus) of fast-growing deciduous trees of the willow family, with catkins and often triangular leaves, such as the aspen and the cottonwood: A row of poplars sheltered the farmhouse.^{[14][15][17][6]}
2. The soft, light-coloured wood of these trees.^[14][15][6]
3. Any of several similar trees of other families, especially the tulip tree.^[14][15][17]

Word family

• poplared

Related words

• popple
• popular

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
15. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins