beech

[beech]

noun

any tree of the genus Fagus, of temperate regions, having a smooth gray bark and bearing small, edible, triangular nuts.
Also called beechwood. the wood of such a tree.
any member of the plant family Fagaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, usually toothed or lobed leaves, male flowers in catkins and female flowers either solitary or in clusters and bearing a nut enclosed in a cupule or bur, including the beeches, chestnuts, and oaks.

Origin of beech

before 900; Middle English beche, Old English bēce < Germanic *bōkjōn-; akin to Old Saxon, Middle Low German boke, Dutch beuk, Old High German buohha (German Buche), Old Norse bōk, Latin fāgus beech, Doric Greek phāgós, Albanian bung oak (apparently not akin to book)

Related formsbeech·en, adjectivebeech·y, adjective

Can be confusedbeach beech

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for beech

Contemporary Examples of beech

Somewhere over the rainbow—specifically atop Beech Mountain in western North Carolina—a yellow brick road leads straight to Oz.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road…to North Carolina
Nina Strochlic
February 12, 2014

Historical Examples of beech

Go to the beech grove, and live with them there,—was that her fate?
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
I know the beech and the maple, and some kinds of oak, but there my wood lore ends.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
No tree has so fair a bole and so handsome an instep as the beech.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862
Various
It is found on oak and beech branches, frequently in large groups.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
I have always found it on beech logs, from September to October.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard

British Dictionary definitions for beech

beech

noun

any N temperate tree of the genus Fagus, esp F. sylvatica of Europe, having smooth greyish bark: family Fagaceae
any tree of the related genus Nothofagus, of temperate Australasia and South America
the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc
See copper beech

Derived Formsbeechen or beechy, adjective

Word Origin for beech

Old English bēce; related to Old Norse bók, Old High German buohha, Middle Dutch boeke, Latin fāgus beech, Greek phēgos edible oak

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for beech

Old English bece "beech," from Proto-Germanic *bokjon (cf. Old Norse bok, Dutch beuk, Flemish boek, Old High German buohha, German Buche, Middle Dutch boeke "beech"), from PIE root *bhagos "beech tree" (cf. Greek phegos "oak," Latin fagus "beech," Russian buzina "elder"), perhaps with a ground sense of "edible" (and connected with the root of Greek phagein "to eat;" see -phagous). Beech mast was an ancient food source for agricultural animals across a wide stretch of Europe. Formerly with adjectival form beechen. Also see book.