Plywood

How to spell plywood

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce plywood

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does plywood mean?

1. nounA strong board made from thin layers of wood glued together with their grains alternating.

Plywood in a sentence

• The builder cut a sheet of plywood to fit the cupboard floor.

• We lined the loft with cheap plywood before laying the carpet.

Where does plywood come from?

Language of origin: French

This is a modern compound that pairs two much older pieces. The first element, 'ply', came into English in the 1500s from the French 'pli', a fold or layer, which traces back to the Latin verb 'plicare', meaning 'to fold' (the same root that gives us 'apply', 'reply' and 'complicate'). The second element, 'wood', is a thoroughly native Germanic word inherited from Old English 'wudu', meaning a tree or the timber cut from it. The two were joined in the early twentieth century to name a building board made by gluing several thin layers, or plies, of veneer with their grains crossed for strength. The word makes its own spelling easy to recall: it really is several plies of wood, so the single 'y' carried over from 'ply' is the only point worth noting.

How the word is built

• ply (a layer or thickness, from plier: to fold)
• wood (timber)