Hardwood

How to spell hardwood

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce hardwood

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hardwood mean?

1. nounThe dense timber of a broad-leaved tree such as oak or walnut, used for furniture and flooring.

Hardwood in a sentence

• The old dining table was carved from solid hardwood.

• They replaced the worn carpet with polished hardwood throughout the hallway.

Where does hardwood come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, formed by joining two of the oldest words in the language. 'Hard' descends from Old English 'heard', meaning firm or solid, while 'wood' comes from Old English 'wudu', the general term for trees or timber; both have deep Germanic roots shared with the Dutch 'hout' and German 'Holz'. The combination arose to distinguish the dense timber of broad-leaved, typically deciduous trees such as oak, ash, and walnut from the lighter 'softwood' of conifers like pine and fir. Although the names imply a difference in physical firmness, foresters actually use them as botanical labels, so a few hardwoods are not especially hard. The compound has been in steady use since at least the seventeenth century, particularly in carpentry and the timber trade, and its plain spelling reflects the everyday English parts it is built from.

How the word is built

• hard (firm, dense)
• wood (timber)