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yew

 - 5 dictionary results
Yew
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Heronswood.com/Taxus

yew

1  [yoo]
Use yew in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of several evergreen, coniferous trees and shrubs of the genera Taxus and Torreya, constituting the family Taxaceae, of the Old World, North America, and Japan, having needlelike or scalelike foliage and seeds enclosed in a fleshy aril.
2. the fine-grained, elastic wood of any of these trees.
3. an archer's bow made of this wood.
4. this tree or its branches as a symbol of sorrow, death, or resurrection.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME ew(e), OE ēow, ī(o)w; c. OHG īga, īwa (MHG īwe, G Eibe), ON ýr, MIr eó yew (OIr: stem, shaft), Welsh ywen yew tree, Russ íva willow
Yew
Rare and Unique Selection of Trees. Delivered Quickly to Your Door.
Heronswood.com/Taxus

yew

2  [yoo; unstressed yoo]
–pronoun Eye Dialect.
you.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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yew   (yōō)   


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n.  

  1. Any of several poisonous evergreen trees or shrubs of the genus Taxus, having scarlet cup-shaped arils and flat needles that are dark green above and yellowish below.

  2. The wood of any of these trees, especially the durable, fine-grained wood of the Old World species Taxus baccata, used in cabinetmaking and for archery bows.


[Middle English, from Old English īw.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

yew 
O.E. iw, eow "yew," from P.Gmc. *iwa-/*iwo- (cf. M.Du. iwe, Du. ijf, O.H.G. iwa, Ger. Eibe, O.N. yr), from PIE *ei-wo- (cf. O.Ir. eo, Welsh ywen "yew"), perhaps a suffixed form of *ei- "reddish, motley, yellow." OED says Fr. if, Sp. iva, M.L. ivus are from Gmc. (and says Du. ijf is from Fr.); others posit a Gaul. ivos as the source of these. Lith. jeva likewise is said to be from Gmc. It symbolizes both death and immortality, being poisonous as well as long-lived.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: yew
Pronunciation: 'yü
Function: noun
: any of a genus (Taxus of the family Taxaceae, the yew family) of evergreen trees and shrubswith stiff linear leaves and fruits with a fleshy aril; especially : one (T. brevifolia) of the western U.S. and British Columbia whose bark yields the antineoplastic drugpaclitaxel
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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