Branches

How to spell branches

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce branches

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does branches mean?

1. nounLimbs growing out from the trunk of a tree, or, by extension, divisions or local offices of a larger organisation.
2. verbDivides or spreads out into separate parts or directions; third-person form of the verb to branch.

Branches in a sentence

• noun

  The storm tore several branches from the old oak in the garden.

• verb

  The trail branches into two paths just beyond the river crossing.

• noun

  The bank closed three of its smaller branches to cut costs.

• verb

  The main pipe branches off to supply each apartment on the floor.

Where does branches come from?

Language of origin: French

This word goes back to the Late Latin branca, which literally meant 'paw' or 'claw' of an animal. From there it passed into Old French as branche, where the imagery of a clawing, spreading limb was applied to the arm of a tree, and English borrowed the word in the 1200s. The original sense of a tree limb quickly extended by metaphor to anything that divides and spreads out from a single source: family branches, the branches of a river, a branch of a company, or a branch of knowledge. The plural and verb form simply add -es because the word ends in -ch, which is why the spelling stays comfortable and regular. The same Latin branca also gave Italian its branca and underlies the rarely guessed link to words for spreading and dividing.

How the word is built

• branch (from Late Latin branca: paw, claw)
• -es (plural noun / third-person verb suffix)