hornbeam
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hornbeam¹
- /ˈhɔːnbiːm/ UK
- /ˈhoɹnˌbim/ US
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English hornbeme, hernbem, hernebem (“European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)”), from horn (“antler or horn of an animal; etc.”) + bem (“tree; piece of metal, wood, etc.”) (referring to a tree with wood as hard as horn):
* Horn is from Old English horn (“horn”), from Proto-West Germanic *horn (“horn”), from Proto-Germanic *hurną (“horn”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn; head, top”).
* Bem is from Old English bēam (“tree; piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum (“tree; piece of wood”), possibly from Proto-Germanic *bagmaz (“tree; piece of wood”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂ǵʰ-mo-s (“branch”) or *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”).
By surface analysis, horn + beam (“only in compounds: tree”).
noun hornbeams
- A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The Horn-beam, in Latine the Carpinus, is planted of Sets; though it may likevviſe be raiſed from the Seeds, […] Thus it vvill advance to a conſiderable Tree.
- Especially, the American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), which is common along the banks of streams in the United States.
-
Especially, the common hornbeam or European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).
Betulus, or the Hornebeame tree grovveth great, & very like vnto the Elme, or vvich Hazell tree, hauing a great body: the vvood or timber vvherof […] in time it vvaxeth ſo hard, that the toughnes and hardnes of it, may be rather compared vnto horne then vnto vvood, and therfore it vvas called Horneb
Similar: hardbeam
- The wood of these trees or one species of them; (countable) a sample of such wood.
hornbeam²
- /ˈhɔːnbiːm/ UK
- /ˈhoɹnˌbim/ US
Where it comes from
From horn + beam (“principal stem of the antler of a deer; ray of light”).
noun hornbeams
-
Synonym of beam (“the principal stem of the antler of a deer, which branches grow out from”).
Similar: beam
- A beam or ray of light emanating from the head of a deity like a horn. With toole ſharp poincted wee boarde and perced his one light [the single eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus], / That ſtood in his lowring front gloommiſh malleted onlye. / Like Greekiſh tergat gliſtring, or Phœbus his hornebeams.
Translations
Talk about this word "hornbeam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hornbeam. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. hornbeam. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hornbeam "hornbeam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hornbeam.Cite this
@misc{hornbeam_2026,
title = {hornbeam},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hornbeam},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
