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.

  1. any member of the beech family (Fagaceae).

Origin of beech

1
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)

Other words from beech

  • beech·en, adjective
  • beech·y, adjective

Words that may be confused with beech

Words Nearby beech

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How to use beech in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for beech

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

  1. the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc

Origin of beech

1
Old English bēce; related to Old Norse bók, Old High German buohha, Middle Dutch boeke, Latin fāgus beech, Greek phēgos edible oak

Derived forms of beech

  • beechen or beechy, adjective

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