: 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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Bright acidity and gentle oak spice lead to an elegant finish.—Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025 Treat Yourself To Local Flavor Dine and relax on the patio under a 200-year-old oak tree at Black Sheep Restaurant.—Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 25 June 2025 Starting the route, head to the lone-star state where beef and barbecue rule, brisket and link sausages topping the ten favorite list, while oak wood is the choice for smoking meats.—Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2025 But why should God be imagined as human—heavens, dogs are nobler creatures, to say nothing of whales
or oak trees—and why as a man?—Campbell McGrath, New Yorker, 23 June 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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