beech

[ beech ]

noun

1. any deciduous tree of the genus Fagus, of temperate regions, having a smooth gray bark and bearing small, edible, triangular nuts.
2. Also called beechwood. the wood from a beech tree of the genus Fagus, including the commonly cultivated European beech.
3. any member of the beech family (Fagaceae).

beech

/ biːtʃ /

noun

1. any N temperate tree of the genus Fagus , esp F. sylvatica of Europe, having smooth greyish bark: family Fagaceae
2. any tree of the related genus Nothofagus , of temperate Australasia and South America
3. the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
4. See copper beech

Derived Forms

• ˈbeechen, adjective

Other Words From

• beech·en adjective
• beech·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of beech¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English beche, Old English bēce, bōce, from Proto-Germanic bōkjōn-; akin to Old Saxon, Middle Low German boke, Dutch beuk, Old High German buohha ( German Buche ), Old Norse bōk, Latin fāgus “beech,” Doric Greek phāgós “oak,” Albanian bung “oak” (apparently not akin to book )

Word History and Origins

Origin of beech¹

Old English bēce ; related to Old Norse bók , Old High German buohha , Middle Dutch boeke , Latin fāgus beech, Greek phēgos edible oak