Aspen

How to spell aspen

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce aspen

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aspen mean?

1. nounA slender poplar tree with rounded leaves that flutter and tremble in the lightest wind.

Aspen in a sentence

• A single aspen stood at the edge of the meadow, its leaves shimmering in the breeze.

• The hikers rested in the shade of a tall aspen beside the trail.

Where does aspen come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Aspen began in Old English as æspe, the name of a slender poplar tree whose leaves tremble in the slightest breeze. Speakers regularly formed an adjective from it by adding the suffix -en, giving 'aspen' the sense 'made of, or belonging to, the aspe', much as 'wooden' means 'made of wood' and 'golden' means 'made of gold'. Over time this adjective drifted into service as the everyday name of the tree itself, and the older bare form æspe quietly faded out of use. The word shares Germanic roots with the Dutch 'esp' and the German 'Espe', all describing the same quaking poplar. The trembling of its leaves is so distinctive that older English even spoke of someone shaking 'like an aspen leaf', and that fluttering habit is the reason the tree was singled out for a name in the first place.

How the word is built

• æspe (Old English name for the tree)
• -en (adjective suffix meaning 'made of')