birch
See also: Birch
English edit
Etymology edit
| PIE word |
|---|
| *bʰerHǵós |
From Middle English birche, birk, from Old English birċe, bierċe, from Proto-West Germanic *birkijā, from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵos.
Cognates
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bû(r)ch, IPA(key): /bɜːtʃ/
- (US) enPR: bû(r)ch, IPA(key): /bɝt͡ʃ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃ
Noun edit
birch (countable and uncountable, plural birches)
- Any of various trees of the genus Betula, native to countries in the Northern Hemisphere.
- A hard wood taken from the birch tree, typically used to make furniture.
- A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for punishment.
- A birch-bark canoe.
Derived terms edit
- American white birch
- birchbark
- birch beer
- birch bolete
- birch bracket
- birchen
- birchlike
- birch mouse
- birch of Jamaica
- birch partridge
- birch sap
- birch tar
- birch tree
- Birch Vale
- birch wine
- birch wood
- birchwood
- birchy
- black birch
- black birch tree
- canoe birch
- cherry birch
- downy birch
- dwarf birch
- flame birch
- Japanese cherry birch
- Much Birch
- northern birch mouse
- oil of birch
- paper birch
- red birch
- river birch
- silver birch
- sweet birch
- water birch
- weeping birch
- white birch
- yellow birch
Translations edit
tree
|
wood
|
punishment device
|
birch-bark canoe
|
Verb edit
birch (third-person singular simple present birches, present participle birching, simple past and past participle birched)
- To punish with a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood.
- To punish as though one were using a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood.
- 1902, M. M. Read, “The Midnight Feast”, in The Boy's Own Annual, volume 25, page 63:
- That the morrow would see us arraigned 'fore the Head
And probably birched with a willow
- 2012, Charles J. Esdaile, Outpost of Empire: The Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucia, 1810–1812, page 319:
- […] and was tied to a tree and soundly birched with a bundle of furze
- 2013, Hugh Thomas, Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico, page 292:
- The Mexica were always washing, in water obtained through the aqueduct, or in the lake, and would often go to the popular baths in the numerous stone steam houses (where birching, with grasses, or massage was also available).
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to punish with a birch
|
to punish as if one were using a birch
References edit
- “birch”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “birch”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Middle English edit
Noun edit
birch
- Alternative form of birche