timber
Meaning
-
- Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.
- Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction.
- A heavy wooden beam, generally a whole log that has been squared off and used to provide heavy support for something such as a roof.
- Material for any structure.
- (informal) The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.
- A certain quantity of fur skins (as of martens, ermines, sables, etc.) packed between boards; in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty. Also timmer, timbre.
Synonyms
piece of wood
wood lumber
cut timber
tone colour
sawed timber
tone quality
Frequency
Hyphenated as
tim‧ber
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈtɪmbə/
Etymology
In summary
From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-West Germanic *timr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm). Cognates include Dutch timmer, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Norwegian tømmer, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), Latin domus and Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos).
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Notes