hornbeam

[hawrn-beem]

noun

any North American shrub or tree belonging to the genus Carpinus, of the birch family, yielding a hard, heavy wood, as C. caroliniana (American hornbeam).

Origin of hornbeam

First recorded in 1570–80; horn + beam

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

Examples from the Web for hornbeam

Contemporary Examples of hornbeam

The maple trees in Westminster Abbey represent modesty and the hornbeam trees represent resilience.
What's with the Trees?
Tom Sykes
April 29, 2011

Historical Examples of hornbeam

The beech might be used instead of the hornbeam on suitable soil.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 1
Various
The woods most used for cogs are hickory, maple, hornbeam and locust.
Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II
Joshua Rose
Is it not from the hornbeam that groweth within the garden of old husbands?
The Legend of Ulenspiegel
Charles de Coster
The hornbeam is almost restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire
Herbert W Tompkins
It was full of long, straight walks, between hedges of yew and hornbeam, which rose tall and close on every side.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume I (of 10)
John Gibson Lockhart

British Dictionary definitions for hornbeam

hornbeam

noun

any tree of the betulaceous genus Carpinus, such as C. betulus of Europe and Asia, having smooth grey bark and hard white wood

the wood of any of these trees

Brit equivalent: ironwood

Word Origin for hornbeam

C14: from horn + beam, referring to its tough wood

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 hornbeam

1570s, from horn (n.) + beam (n.), preserving the original sense of the latter word; so called in reference to its hard wood.