timber
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm). Cognates include Dutch timmer, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Norwegian tømmer, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), Latin domus and Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɪmbə/, (interjecting) IPA(key): [ˈtɪˑmˌbəː]
- (General American) enPR: tĭmʹbər, IPA(key): /ˈtɪmbɚ/, (interjecting) IPA(key): [ˈtɪˑmˌbɚː]
Audio (US) (noun) (file) Audio (AU) (noun) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪmbə(ɹ)
- Homophone: timbre (for one US pronunciation)
- Hyphenation: tim‧ber
Noun
timber (countable and uncountable, plural timbers)
- (uncountable) Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.
- (outside Canada, US, uncountable) Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction.
- (countable) A heavy wooden beam, generally a whole log that has been squared off and used to provide heavy support for something such as a roof.
- the timbers of a ship
- Material for any structure.
- (firearms, informal) The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.
- (archaic) A certain quantity of fur skins (as of martens, ermines, sables, etc.) packed between boards; in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty. Also timmer, timbre.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
- (wooden beam used to provide support): crosstree
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
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Translations
Verb
timber (third-person singular simple present timbers, present participle timbering, simple past and past participle timbered)
- (transitive) To fit with timbers.
- timbering a roof
- (transitive, obsolete) To construct, frame, build.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: Edw. Dod & Nath. Ekins, 1650, Book I, Chapter 5, p. 14,
- For many heads that undertake [learning], were never squared nor timbred for it.
- 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: Edw. Dod & Nath. Ekins, 1650, Book I, Chapter 5, p. 14,
- (falconry, intransitive) To light or land on a tree.
- (obsolete) To make a nest.
- (transitive) To surmount as a timber does.
Etymology 2
Norwegian Nynorsk
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm). Cognates include Old Saxon timbar, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), and Latin domus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtimber/
Old Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse timbr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą.
Declension
Descendants
- Swedish: timmer