oak [OE] The Germanic name of the oak is related to Latin aesculus, a word for a species of oak sacred to the Roman god Jupiter. Oak was traditionally used in shipbuilding, which gave the 18th-century actor David Garrick the line for a song about the British navy, ‘Heart of oak are our ships’. The Oaks is the name of an annual flat horse race for three-year-old fillies run on Epsom Downs, over the same course as the Derby. It was first run in 1779 and was named after a nearby estate, presumably distinguished for its oak trees. See also acorn.