Etymology
Origin of birchen
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at birch, -en 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Leave the windy birchen cot For my own, light happy lot, O'er thee I my veil will fling.
From Algic Researches, Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 of 2 Indian Tales and Legends by Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
The early frosts brought those pale leaves down, Ere the storms of winter came; And stripp'd and bare stood my birchen tree, But a wreck to tell its name.
From The Legendary and Poetical Remains of John Roby author of 'Traditions of Lancashire', with a sketch of his literary life and character by Roby, John
To give a lover a birchen branch, is for a maiden to accept his addresses; to give him a collen, or hazel, the reverse.
From British Goblins Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Sikes, Wirt
I love you for lulling me back into dreams Of the blue Highland mountains, and echoing streams, And of birchen glades breathing their balm.
From The Cruise of the Land-Yacht "Wanderer" Thirteen Hundred Miles in my Caravan by Stables, Gordon
The blackbirds in the birchen holts The live-long day were singing, Where countless azure hyacinths Their perfumed bells were ringing.
From The Dales of Arcady by Ratcliffe, Dorothy Una
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
