birch

birch
\ \ [OE] Old English bi(e)rce came from a prehistoric Germanic *berkjōn, source also of German birke. The word goes back ultimately to an Indo-European *bhergo, but as is often the case with ancient tree-names, it does not denote the same type of tree in every language in which it has descendants: Latin fraxinus, for example, means ‘ash tree’. It has been speculated that the word is related to bright (whose Indo-European source was *bhereg-), with reference to the tree’s light-coloured bark. It could also be that the word bark [13] itself is related. The verb birchflog’ (originally with a birch rod or bunch of birch twigs) is early 19th-century.
\ \ Cf.BARK, BRIGHT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Birch — ist der Name folgender Personen: Adam Birch (* 1979), US amerikanischer Profiwrestler Adolf Birch Hirschfeld (1849–1917), Romanist Albert Francis Birch (1903–1992), US amerikanischer Geophysiker Andreas Christian Birch (1795–1868), dänischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Birch — (b[ e]rch), n.; pl. {Birches} ( [e^]z). [OE. birche, birk, AS. birce, beorc; akin to Icel. bj[ o]rk, Sw. bj[ o]rk, Dan. birk, D. berk, OHG. piricha, MHG. birche, birke, G. birke, Russ. bereza, Pol. brzoza, Serv. breza, Skr. bh[=u]rja. [root]254.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • birch — [bʉrch] n. [ME birche < OE beorc < IE base * bhereĝ , to gleam, white > BRIGHT] 1. any of a genus (Betula) of trees and shrubs of the birch family, having smooth bark easily peeled off in thin sheets, and hard, closegrained wood: found… …   English World dictionary

  • birch — birch; birch·en; birch·er; birch·ite; …   English syllables

  • birch — ► NOUN 1) a slender hardy tree having a peeling, typically silver grey or white, bark and yielding a hard fine grained wood. 2) (the birch) chiefly historical a punishment in which a person is flogged with a bundle of birch twigs. ► VERB chiefly… …   English terms dictionary

  • Birch — Birch, a. Of or pertaining to the birch; birchen. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Birch — Birch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Birched} (b[ e]rcht); p. pr. & vb. n. {Birching}.] To whip with a birch rod or twig; to flog. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Birch — Birch, 1) (spr. börtsch) Samuel, engl. Sprachforscher und Archäolog, geb. 3. Nov. 1813 in London, gest. daselbst 27. Dez. 1885, besuchte die Schulen zu Greenwich und Blackheath, dann die Merchant Taylors School in London, wurde 1836 Assistent,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • birch — (n.) O.E. berc, beorc (also the name of the rune for b ), from P.Gmc. *berkjon (Cf. O.S. birka, O.N. börk, Dan. birk, Swed. björk, M.Du. berke, Du. berk, O.H.G. birihha, Ger. Birke), from PIE *bhergo (Cf. Ossetian …   Etymology dictionary

  • birch|en — «BUR chuhn», adjective. 1. of a birch tree. 2. made of birchwood. 3. having to do with the birch used in punishing …   Useful english dictionary

  • birch — [ bɜrtʃ ] noun 1. ) count a tall tree with thin branches and an outer layer that comes off in thin strips like paper a ) uncount the wood from this tree 2. ) the birch BRITISH an old fashioned form of CORPORAL PUNISHMENT in which someone is hit… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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