: 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
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.
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The finish is long and fruity, with lingering notes of roasted nuts and subtle seasoned oak.—Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025 Beetles are essential decomposers in our hickory and oak boreal forests.—Markis Hill, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2025 Built in 1903, the couple’s new house sits on a corner lot and is full of vintage details, including wainscoting, picture and plate moldings, an arched passageway with oak trim and a wraparound grand oak staircase.—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 3 July 2025 The two-door piece has rattan doors that add a decorative element, comes in two neutral tones, and is currently on sale for $300 off in its black and oak color options.—Rachel Trujillo, People.com, 3 July 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
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