Tree

How to spell tree

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce tree

What does tree mean?

1. nounA tall woody plant with a trunk, branches, and leaves.
2. nounA branching diagram showing relationships, such as a family or decision structure.

Tree in a sentence

• An old oak tree shaded the back garden all summer.

• She mapped the whole department onto an organisational tree.

• They planted a fruit tree near the kitchen window.

• The family tree traced their ancestors back four generations.

Where does tree come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the Old English treow, which meant both 'a tree' and the material 'wood' or 'timber'. It descends from a Proto-Germanic root that also gave the Dutch and German words for tree-related terms, and it ultimately traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'oak' or simply 'wood', shared with the Greek 'drys' (oak) and 'doru' (wooden spear). Because of this old double meaning, the same ancestor lies behind the word 'true' (originally 'firm as a tree') and 'trust', both built on the idea of something solid and reliable. The spelling settled with the doubled 'ee' to capture the long vowel sound as English orthography standardised. The modern sense narrowed from any wood or timber to the living plant we picture today.

How the word is built

• tree (from Old English treow: tree, wood; a single native root with no affixes)