Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- any coniferous tree belonging to the genus Abies, of the pine family, characterized by its pyramidal style of growth, flat needles, and erect cones.
- the wood of such a tree.
- far-infrared radiation.
noun
- any pyramidal coniferous tree of the N temperate genus Abies, having single needle-like leaves and erect cones: family PinaceaeSee also red fir, silver fir, balsam fir
- any of various other trees of the family Pinaceae, such as the Douglas fir
- the wood of any of these trees
14c.; Old English had furhwudu “pine wood,” but the modern word is more likely from Old Norse fyri- “fir” or Old Danish fyr, all from Proto-Germanic *furkhon (cf. Old High German foraha, German Föhre “fir”), from PIE root *perkos, originally “oak” (cf. Sanskrit paraktah “the holy fig tree,” Hindi pargai “the evergreen oak,” Latin quercus “oak,” Lombardic fereha “a kind of oak”).