: any of a genus (Quercus) of trees or shrubs of the beech family that produce acorns
also: any of various plants related to or resembling the oaks
b
: the tough hard durable wood of an oak tree
2
: the leaves of an oak used as decoration
Illustration of oak
1 acorn
2 leaf
Example Sentences
Tall oaks line the street. The table is solid oak. The cabinets are made of oak.
Recent Examples on the WebFranzen built the home with top-tier craftsmanship and materials, like the quarter-sawn oak double stairway and mahogany true divided light windows, paneling and floors. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2022 The custom window shutters are crafted from the same French natural oak seen throughout the apartment, adding a warm, bucolic touch while still remaining fresh, clean, and modern. Mikki Brammer, ELLE Decor, 6 Sep. 2022 One of those trees, the Quercus tardifolia oak, was thought to be extinct, but researchers including Westwood recently located a single tree in southwest Texas. Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2022 The owners refinished the oak and Douglas fir floors and other original features, and upgraded the 2,567-square-foot dwelling.oregonlive, 24 Aug. 2022 Both types come in up to fifty species, with some of the most popular options being oak, ash, maple and walnut. Dan Diclerico, Good Housekeeping, 12 Aug. 2022 If your cabinetry is a reddish oak or dark walnut, try a fluid color with a bluish veil—like Onirika Trance designed by Nina Magon for Dekton. Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 4 Aug. 2022 The place where the oak comes from also has its distinctions, with French and American the most frequently used. John Mariani, Forbes, 4 Aug. 2022 This style has been dialed in a bit, though the oak is definitely there. Marc Bona, cleveland, 10 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English ook, oke, going back to Old English āc, going back to Germanic *eik- (whence also Old Frisian ēk "oak," Old Saxon ēc, Old High German eih, eihha, Old Norse eik), of obscure origin
Note: Old English āc is a feminine root noun (dative singular and nominative plural ǣc), though forms leveled to other declensions with umlaut are already evident. Germanic *eik- has been compared with the Greek words aigílōps, a name in Theophrastus for a species of oak (Quercus macrolepis?), and krátaigos, a species of hawthorn (also in Theophrastus), but interpretation of the conjoined elements of these words is conjectural (lṓpē is not actually attested in the sense "cork" or "bark"). The derivation of Latin aesculus "a species of oak (Quercus petraea?)" is obscure. The Lithuanian dialect forms áižuols and áužuolas "oak," superficially comparable, are hypercorrections of ą́žuolas, which is very unlikely to be related to *eik- (cf. Old Prussian ansonis = German eche in the Elbing Vocabulary).
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of oak was before the 12th century