plural oaks or oak
often attributive
1
a
: any of a genus (Quercus) of trees or shrubs of the beech family that produce acorns
also : any of various plants related to or resembling the oaks
b
: the tough hard durable wood of an oak tree
2
: the leaves of an oak used as decoration

Illustration of oak

Illustration of oak
  • 1 acorn
  • 2 leaf

Examples of oak in a Sentence

Tall oaks line the street. The table is solid oak. The cabinets are made of oak.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First, where the classic Boulevardier recruits the broad oaky shoulders of bourbon or rye for its base, Taylor substituted in apple brandy, which is similarly barrel aged but is distilled from apples instead of corn or rye, giving a core fruity quality beneath the familiar oak. Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 18 Oct. 2025 In 2006, protestors occupied a grove of oak trees slated to be cut down for the construction of a new athletic center. Austin Meek, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025 Drawing on Laurent Tillon’s Being an Oak, Paul explores how a single oak grows for 250 years, and argues that enduring companies do the same. Big Think, 16 Oct. 2025 There are some Southern trees that never seem to stop dripping sap — pine trees, river birch, maples, and oaks. Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for oak

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ook, oke, going back to Old English āc, going back to Germanic *eik- (whence also Old Frisian ēk "oak," Old Saxon ēc, Old High German eih, eihha, Old Norse eik), of obscure origin

Note: Old English āc is a feminine root noun (dative singular and nominative plural ǣc), though forms leveled to other declensions with umlaut are already evident. Germanic *eik- has been compared with the Greek words aigílōps, a name in Theophrastus for a species of oak (Quercus macrolepis?), and krátaigos, a species of hawthorn (also in Theophrastus), but interpretation of the conjoined elements of these words is conjectural (lṓpē is not actually attested in the sense "cork" or "bark"). The derivation of Latin aesculus "a species of oak (Quercus petraea?)" is obscure. The Lithuanian dialect forms áižuols and áužuolas "oak," superficially comparable, are hypercorrections of ą́žuolas, which is very unlikely to be related to *eik- (cf. Old Prussian ansonis = German eche in the Elbing Vocabulary).

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of oak was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Oak.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oak. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

oak

noun
plural oaks or oak
1
: any of various trees or shrubs closely related to the beeches and chestnuts and producing acorns
2
: the tough hard wood of the oak much used for furniture and flooring
oaken adjective

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