oak n.

"tree or shrub of the genus Quercus," Middle English oke, from Old English ac "oak tree" and in part from cognate Old Norse eik, both from Proto-Germanic *aiks (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian ek, Middle Dutch eike, Dutch eik, Old High German eih, German Eiche, Swedish ek, Danish eg), a word of uncertain origin with no certain cognates outside Germanic.

The usual Indo-European base for "oak" (*deru-) has become Modern English tree (n.). In Greek and Celtic, meanwhile, words for "oak" are from the Indo-European root for "tree." All this probably reflects the importance of the oak, the monarch of the forest, to ancient Indo-Europeans. Likewise, as there were no oaks in Iceland, the Old Norse word eik came to be used by the viking settlers there for "tree" in general.

In English the word is used in Biblical translations to render Hebrew elah (probably usually "terebinth tree") and four other words. The form in Middle English was very uncertain (oc, oek, hokke, ake, eoke, aike, hock, etc.). Oak-gall "excrescence produced by an oak tree in reaction to insects," used in making ink, is by 1712.

Jove's own tree,

That holds the woods in awful sovereignty,

Requires a depth of lodging in the ground ;

High as his topmost boughs to heaven ascend,

So low his roots to hell's dominion tend.

[Dryden, translating Virgil]

词汇	oak
词源	oak n. "tree or shrub of the genus Quercus," Middle English oke, from Old English ac "oak tree" and in part from cognate Old Norse eik, both from Proto-Germanic aiks (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian ek, Middle Dutch eike, Dutch eik, Old High German eih, German Eiche, Swedish ek, Danish eg), a word of uncertain origin with no certain cognates outside Germanic. The usual Indo-European base for "oak" (deru-) has become Modern English tree (n.). In Greek and Celtic, meanwhile, words for "oak" are from the Indo-European root for "tree." All this probably reflects the importance of the oak, the monarch of the forest, to ancient Indo-Europeans. Likewise, as there were no oaks in Iceland, the Old Norse word eik came to be used by the viking settlers there for "tree" in general. In English the word is used in Biblical translations to render Hebrew elah (probably usually "terebinth tree") and four other words. The form in Middle English was very uncertain (oc, oek, hokke, ake, eoke, aike, hock, etc.). Oak-gall "excrescence produced by an oak tree in reaction to insects," used in making ink, is by 1712. Jove's own tree, That holds the woods in awful sovereignty, Requires a depth of lodging in the ground ; High as his topmost boughs to heaven ascend, So low his roots to hell's dominion tend. [Dryden, translating Virgil] Entries linking to oak tree n. Old English treo, treow "tree" (also "timber, wood, beam, log, stake"), from Proto-Germanic trewam (source also of Old Frisian tre, Old Saxon trio, Old Norse tre, Gothic triu "tree"), from PIE drew-o-, suffixed variant form of root deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," with specialized senses "wood, tree" and derivatives referring to objects made of wood. The line which divides trees from shrubs is largely arbitrary, and dependent upon habit rather than size, the tree having a single trunk usually unbranched for some distance above the ground, while a shrub has usually several stems from the same root and each without a proper trunk. [Century Dictionary] In Old English and Middle English also "thing made of wood," especially the cross of the Crucifixion and a gallows (such as Tyburn tree, famous gallows outside London). Middle English also had plural treen, adjective treen (Old English treowen "of a tree, wooden"). For Dutch boom, German Baum, the usual words for "tree," see beam (n.). Meaning "framework of a saddle" is from 1530s. Meaning "representation of familial relationships in the form of a tree" is from c. 1300. Tree-hugger*, contemptuous for "environmentalist" is attested by 1989. Minc'd Pyes do not grow upon every tree, But search the Ovens for them, and there they be. ["Poor Robin," Almanack, 1669] live-oak n. evergreen oak tree of the U.S. South, c. 1600, from live (adj.) + oak (n.). tree (n.)live-oak (n.)oaken (adj.)pin-oak (n.) updated on June 08, 2022
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oak n.

Entries linking to oak