timber

English Online Dictionary. What means timber‎? What does timber mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-West Germanic *timr, 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]
• Rhymes: -ɪmbə(ɹ)
• Homophone: timbre (for one US pronunciation)
• Hyphenation: tim‧ber

Noun

timber (countable and uncountable, plural timbers)

1. (uncountable) Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.

   collect timber

   cut down timber

2. (outside Canada, US, uncountable) Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction.
3. (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.

4. Material for any structure.
5. (firearms, informal) The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.
6. (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.
7. (cricket, slang) The stumps.

Synonyms

• (trees considered as a source of wood): timberland, forest
• (wood that has been cut ready for construction): lumber (US), wood
• (beam used to support a roof): beam, rafter

Hyponyms

• (wooden beam used to provide support): crosstree

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

timber!

1. Used by loggers to warn others that a tree being felled is falling.
2. By extension, a cry used when anything is falling over.

Translations

Verb

timber (third-person singular simple present timbers, present participle timbering, simple past and past participle timbered)

1. (transitive) To fit with timbers.

   timbering a roof

2. (transitive, obsolete) To construct, frame, build.
3. (falconry, intransitive) To light or land on a tree.
4. (obsolete) To make a nest.
5. (transitive) To surmount as a timber does.

Etymology 2

Noun

timber

1. Misspelling of timbre.

Anagrams

• betrim, biterm, timbre

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪmbər/, /ˈtɪmːər/

Noun

timber n (definite singular timberet or timbret, uncountable)

1. (pre-1938) alternative form of tømmer

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *timr, 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, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), and Latin domus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtim.ber/

Noun

timber n

1. timber
2. building (both senses)

Declension

Derived terms

• andtimber
• timbran

Descendants

• Middle English: timber
  • English: timber
  • Scots: timmer, tymmer, tymer

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse timbr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą.

Noun

timber n

1. timber; wood used for building

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: timmer