tree English · revision 2773

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 830|origins=ine-pro *dóru}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /triː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|tre]], tree,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|trēow|t=tree; timber, wood, beam]], trēo,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*trewą|alt=*trewam]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*dóru|alt=*drew-o-]], a suffixed form of *deru- “to be firm, solid”, specialized as “wood, tree”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Frisian trē, Old Saxon trio, Old Norse tré and Gothic triu,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and outside Germanic with Greek drûs “oak” and dóru “spear”, Welsh derwen “oak”, Lithuanian dervà “pinewood” and Sanskrit dā́ru “wood”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It is not found in High German except in the word for “tar”; the usual German and Dutch words are Baum and boom, related to [[beam]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English, before 830 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) with the OED's first example of a woody perennial plant from about 825.^(OED 1989) Old English trēow also meant “timber, wood, beam, log”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As Trench noted, the word was once used of dead timber as well as the living plant;^(Trench 1859) Wycliffe's Bible speaks of vessels “of tree and of erthe”, and the old sense survives in ''axletree'' and ''saddletree''.^(Trench 1859) In Old and Middle English a tree was also a thing made of wood, especially the cross of the Crucifixion and later the gallows, as ''Tyburn tree''.^(Etymonline) Middle English had a plural ''treen'' and an adjective ''treen'', “wooden”.^(Etymonline) In early figurative use it often meant the trees of Eden or the Tree of Life.^(Etymonline) The framework of a saddle is from the 1530s,^(Etymonline) a family tree, a diagram of descent, from the 13th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to grow into a tree” from 1650,^(Barnhart 1988) and “to chase up a tree” from before 1700,^(Barnhart 1988) by 1833 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) ''Tree frog'' is from 1738.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 830 – Old English trēow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 13th century – a family tree.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1530s – a saddletree.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650 – verb, to grow into a tree.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1700 – verb, to chase up a tree.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1738 – ''tree frog''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1838 – a Christmas tree.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tall [[perennial]] woody plant with a single main [[trunk]] and branches, usually forming a crown.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something shaped like a tree, such as a coat stand or a [[shoe tree]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A diagram with branching lines, such as a [[family tree]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A wooden beam or bar forming part of a structure, or ''(archaic)'' a [[gallows]] or the cross.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To chase an animal up a tree; to [[corner]] someone.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[treeless]]

+ * [[treelike]]

+ * [[treenail]]

+ * [[whiffletree]]

+ * [[treelined]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[true]]

+ * [[trough]]

+ * [[tray]]

+ * [[druid]]

+ * [[tar]]

+ * [[beam]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}