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Birch

//bɜːtʃ// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    consisting of or made of wood of the birch tree wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A nickname of the surname Birchall.
  3. 3
    A village and civil parish in Colchester borough, Essex, England (OS grid ref TL9419).
  4. 4
    A small village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD8507).
  5. 5
    A township in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States.
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  1. 6
    An extinct town in Eureka County, Nevada, United States.
  2. 7
    A town in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States.
  3. 8
    An unincorporated community in the town of Sanborn, Ashland County, Wisconsin.
Noun
  1. 1
    Any of various trees of the genus Betula, native to countries in the Northern Hemisphere. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a switch consisting of a twig or a bundle of twigs from a birch tree; used to hit people as punishment wordnet
  3. 3
    A hard wood taken from the birch tree, typically used to make furniture. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula having a thin peeling bark wordnet
  5. 5
    A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for punishment. countable, uncountable
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  1. 6
    hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood wordnet
  2. 7
    A birch-bark canoe. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To punish with a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood. transitive
  2. 2
    whip with a birch twig wordnet
  3. 3
    To punish as though one were using a stick, bundle of twigs, or rod made of birch wood. transitive

    "That the morrow would see us arraigned 'fore the Head And probably birched with a willow"

Etymology

Etymology 1

PIE word *bʰerHǵós From Middle English birche, birk, from Old English birċe, bierċe, from Proto-West Germanic *birkijā, from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵos. Cognates Compare West Frisian bjirk, German Birke, variant of *berkō (compare Dutch berk, Danish birk, Swedish björk, Norwegian bjørk), Sanskrit भूर्ज (bhūrjá), Lithuanian béržas, Czech bříza, Ossetian бӕрз (bærz), Russian берёза (berjóza)), Latin fraxinus (“ash tree, ash javelin”), Albanian bredh.

Etymology 2

PIE word *bʰerHǵós From Middle English birche, birk, from Old English birċe, bierċe, from Proto-West Germanic *birkijā, from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵos. Cognates Compare West Frisian bjirk, German Birke, variant of *berkō (compare Dutch berk, Danish birk, Swedish björk, Norwegian bjørk), Sanskrit भूर्ज (bhūrjá), Lithuanian béržas, Czech bříza, Ossetian бӕрз (bærz), Russian берёза (berjóza)), Latin fraxinus (“ash tree, ash javelin”), Albanian bredh.

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