different between oak vs willow

English

Etymology

From Middle English ook, oke, aik, ake, from Old English ?c (also as Old English ??), from Proto-Germanic *aiks, from Proto-Indo-European *h?ey?- (“oak”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /o?k/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??k/
• enPR: ?k
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

oak (countable and uncountable, plural oaks)

2. (countable) A deciduous tree with distinctive deeply lobed leaves, acorns, and notably strong wood, typically of England and northeastern North America, included in genus Quercus.
   • Instead there were the white of aspens, streaks of branch and slender trunk glistening from the green of leaves, and the darker green of oaks, and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.

3. (uncountable) The wood of the oak.
4. A rich brown colour, like that of oak wood.

5. Any tree of the genus Quercus, in family Fagaceae.
6. Any tree of other genera and species of trees resembling typical oaks of genus Quercus in some ways.
   1. The she-oaks in Allocasuarina and Casuarina, of family Casuarinaceae
   2. Lagunaria, white oak, in family Malvaceae
   3. Various species called silky oak, in family Proteaceae
   4. Toxicodendron, poison oak, in family Anacardiaceae
   5. Various tanbark oak or stone oak species in family Fagaceae, genera Lithocarpus and Notholithocarpus.
7. The outer (lockable) door of a set of rooms in a college or similar institution. (Often in the phrase "to sport one's oak").
   • 1930, Frank Richards, The Magnet, Prout's Lovely Black Eye

     It was hardly the thing for a master to sport his oak where another member of the staff was concerned.

   • The New Sporting Magazine (volume 15, page 23)

     The vesper bell had rung its parting note; the domini were mostly caged in comfortable quarters, discussing the merits of old port; and the merry student had closed his oak, to consecrate the night to friendship, sack, and claret.

8. (wine) The flavor of oak.

Alternative forms

• (oak tree): woak, yack (England, dialectal, possibly obsolete)

Hypernyms

• (oak tree): tree

Meronyms

• (oak tree): acorn

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

oak (not comparable)

1. having a rich brown colour, like that of oak wood.
2. made of oak wood or timber

   an oak table, oak beam, etc

Synonyms

• (made of oak): oaken

Translations

Verb

oak (third-person singular simple present oaks, present participle oaking, simple past and past participle oaked)

1. (wine, transitive) To expose to oak in order for the oak to impart its flavors.

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

• oak on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• oak at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• A-OK, AOK, Kao, Oka, koa, oka

English

Etymology

From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English weli?, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ????? (helík?), Hittite ???????????? (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?l.??/
• Rhymes: -?l??
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?lo?/
• Rhymes: -?lo?

Noun

willow (countable and uncountable, plural willows)

1. Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.

   • […] and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows.

2. The wood of these trees.
3. (cricket, colloquial) A cricket bat.
4. (baseball, slang, 1800s) The baseball bat.
5. A rotating spiked drum used to open and clean cotton heads.

Synonyms

• withy

Derived terms

• French willow
• Red Willow County
• Red Willow Creek
• weeping willow
• willow in the wind

Translations

Verb

willow (third-person singular simple present willows, present participle willowing, simple past and past participle willowed)

1. (transitive) To open and cleanse (cotton, flax, wool, etc.) by means of a willow.
2. (intransitive) To form a shape or move in a way similar to the long, slender branches of a willow.
   • 1928, Robert Byron, The Station: Travels to the Holy Mountain of Greece, Chapter 12,^[1]

     Willowing over the rough cobbles of the little pier stepped a thin, bent figure, adorned with a silver nannygoat’s beard and bobbling eyes interrupted by the rim of a pair of pince-nez.

   • 1930, Talbot Mundy, Black Light, Chapter 7,^[2]

     Joe’s impulse was to sketch her, with her shadow willowing beyond her on the mouse-gray paving-stone; but his left fist, obeying instinct, remained clenched behind his back […]

   • 1985, Martin Booth, Hiroshima Joe, New York: Picador, p. 394,^[3]

     It was floating a foot under the surface. The eyes were holes. The mouth was a slit cavern of darkness. The hair willowed around the scalp.

   • 2013, Dean Koontz, Wilderness, Bantam Books,^[4]

     The draft-drawn smoke willowed down through the hole and across my face, but I didn’t worry about coughing or sneezing.