tree

Where does the word "tree" come from? It comes from Proto-Germanic trewą, passing through Old English before entering English (1500s).

Tree’s story begins in Proto-Germanic: trewą meant “tree.” Shares a root with Greek 'drys', oak, as in 'dryad', and with 'true', firm as a tree. By 700s-1000s, the word had taken hold in Old English as trēow. Also meant timber and the Cross, as in the poem 'The Dream of the Rood'. It reached English by 1500s as tree. London's gallows at Tyburn were known as 'Tyburn tree'. Today, tree means a tall woody plant with a trunk and branches.

1. Stage 1 · Proto-Germanic · ancient trewą "tree", shares a root with Greek 'drys', oak, as in 'dryad', and with 'true', firm as a tree.
2. Stage 2 · Old English · 700s-1000s trēow "tree, wood", also meant timber and the Cross, as in the poem 'The Dream of the Rood'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1500s tree "tree", London's gallows at Tyburn were known as 'Tyburn tree'.