birch

Meaning

Noun

1. Any of various trees of the genus Betula, native to countries in the Northern Hemisphere.
2. A hard wood taken from the birch tree, typically used to make furniture.
3. A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for punishment.
4. A birch-bark canoe.

Verb

1. To punish with a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood.
2. To punish as though one were using a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɜːtʃ/

Etymology

PIE word
*bʰerHǵós
From Middle English birche, birk, from Old English birċe, bierċe, from Proto-West Germanic *birkijā, from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵos.
Cognates
Compare West Frisian bjirk, German Birke, variant of *berkō (compare Dutch berk, Swedish björk, Norwegian bjørk), Sanskrit भूर्ज (bhūrjá), Lithuanian béržas, Czech bříza, Ossetian бӕрз (bærz), Russian берёза (berjóza)), Latin fraxinus (“ash tree, ash javelin”), Albanian bredh.