oak English · revision 7051

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=749|origins=gem-pro *aiks}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /oʊk/, /woʊk/; /əʊk/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English oke, ook, [[inh|ang|āc|t=oak tree]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) partly also from Old Norse [[m|non|eik]],^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*aiks]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) source also of Old Saxon ēk, Dutch [[m|nl|eik]] and German [[m|de|Eiche]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) with no certain cognates outside Germanic;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Word Origins and MWU relate it to Latin [[m|la|aesculus|t=a kind of oak]] and Greek aigilōps.^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The tree: 749 in the OED, about 700 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The usual Indo-European word for oak, *deru-, became English [[tree]], which Etymonline takes to reflect the importance of the oak to the ancient Indo-Europeans.^(Etymonline) As Iceland had no oaks, Old Norse eik came to mean any tree there.^(Etymonline) English Bibles use oak for Hebrew ēlāh, probably the terebinth (1382).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Oak timber, especially for ships, is Old English,^(OED 1989) hence Garrick's ''Heart of oak are our ships''.^(Cresswell 2021) Other trees resembling oaks were called oak from 1551, including Australian casuarinas from 1802.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 749 – the tree.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1000 – oak timber for ships.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1382 – in the Bible, the terebinth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1551 – other oak-like trees.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1802 – Australian she-oaks.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large tree of the genus ''Quercus'', bearing [[acorn|alt=acorns]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The hard, durable wood of this tree.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oaken]]

+ * [[oaklike]]

+ * [[blackjack oak]]

+ * [[black oak]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acorn]]

+ * [[tree]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}