cedar English · revision 39770

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Old English, Vespasian Psalter|origins=grc κέδρος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsi.dɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * UK: /ˈsiː.də/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|cedre]], partly [[inh|ang|ceder]], [[bor|la|cedrus]], and partly [[bor|fro|cedre]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Weekley 1921) from the same Latin noun,^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|κέδρος|tr=kédros|t=cedar, juniper]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) The Greek word is of uncertain origin;^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster compares [[lt|kadagys|t=juniper]],^(MWU 2024)^(Partridge 1966) and Barnhart thinks it probably Semitic, comparing [[hbo|קָטַר|tr=qāṭar|t=it smoked]], so that it first meant wood burnt as incense.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED notes that the French form is learned, not the regular Old French outcome of the Latin.^(OED 2026) The spelling ''cedar'', in imitation of what was wrongly taken for the Latin form, appears from the mid-16th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The cedar of Lebanon, an evergreen conifer: Old English, in ''ceder-bēam'', cedar tree, before 830 in the Vespasian Psalter,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) and ''ceder'' alone about 1000.^(Barnhart 1988) The Middle English form ''cedre'' is recorded in 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Barnhart 1995) and Anglo-Norman ''cedre'' from the first half of the 12th century.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The wood of the tree is named from ''Cursor Mundi'' (a1400).^(OED 2026) The true cedars are native to the Levant, North Africa and the Himalayas,^(Etymonline) but from 1702 the name was given to many trees thought to resemble them, especially in their fragrant, durable wood, such as junipers, ''Thuja'' and ''Cedrela''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Johnson (1755) gave a long botanical description of the tree.^(Johnson 1755) In Australian slang a ''cedar'' was a fool, a wooden head (1953).^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 830 – ''ceder-bēam'', cedar tree.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c1000 – ''ceder''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1325 – ''cedre''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1400 – the wood of the cedar.^(OED 2026)

+ * mid-16th century – the spelling ''cedar''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1702 – any of various trees resembling the cedar.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tall evergreen [[conifer]] of the genus ''Cedrus'', with spreading branches, needle-like leaves and upright cones, such as the [[cedar of Lebanon]] and the [[deodar]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Any of various other coniferous trees with [[fragrant]], durable wood, such as some [[juniper|alt=junipers]] and [[thuja|alt=thujas]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The wood of any of these trees: ''a chest lined with cedar''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cedary]]

+ * [[cedarn]]

+ * [[cedarwood]]

+ * [[cedar apple]]

+ * [[cedar chest]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deodar]]

+ * [[citron]]

+ * [[juniper]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}