beech

From Middle English beche, from Old English bēċe, from Proto-West Germanic *bōkijā (“beech”). Doublet of buky.

• enPR: bēch, IPA^(key): /biːt͡ʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtʃ
• Homophone: beach

beech (plural beeches)

1. A tree of the genus Fagus having a smooth, light grey trunk, oval, pointed leaves, and many branches.
   • 1907, Harold Edward Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:

     A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.

2. The wood of the beech tree.

• (tree): beech tree
• (wood): beechwood