yew
Meaning
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- A species of coniferous tree, Taxus baccata, with dark-green flat needle-like leaves and seeds bearing red arils, native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia.
- Any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus.
- Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus
- Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus
- The wood of the such trees.
- A bow for archery, made of yew wood.
Synonyms
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/juː/
Etymology
From Middle English ew, from Old English īw, ēow, from Proto-Germanic *īwaz, *īhwaz (compare Icelandic ýr), masculine variant of *īwō (compare Dutch ijf, German Eibe), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw-. See also Hittite [script needed] (eja, “type of evergreen”), Welsh yw (“yews”), Irish eo [both cognates of Old English īw, Old English ēow]; and Latgalian īva (“bird cherry”), Lithuanian ievà (“bird cherry”), Russian и́ва (íva, “willow”).
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Notes