Growth of the word "Tree"
“Tree” is a common Germanic word that many people take for granted. The PIE word for it is “drew-o,” according to many linguists, which is a variant of “deru,” which was a verb meaning “to be strong, steadfast.” The Proto-Germanic word for tree is “trewam,” which was the root for the creation of the Old Frisian word “tre,” the Old Saxon word “trio,” the Old Norse word “tre,” and the Gothic word “triu,” (Etymonline.com). The Middle English plural (and adjective!) for the word “tree” was “treen”, derived from the Old English word “treowen,” which meant “of a tree, wooden” (Etymonline.com).
Early uses of the word “tree” were often associated with the Garden of Eden (where Man first lived in the Bible) and the Tree of Life (a common symbol in many religions and mythologies). It was also used mechanically, specifically in Old and Middle English, especially in relation to the Cross of Crucifixion and later on the gallows (Etymonline.com).
Around 1000, we see an early variant of the word “tree” in a work by Ælfric of Eynsham entitled “Genesis, Exodus.” It says “Þæt treow wæs god to etanne” (OED). By 1377, we have one of our first recorded instances of the word “trees” arising from a work by William Langland called “The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman” (“A forest…ful of faire trees”) (OED).
Prior to 1377, we have several uses of “treo,” “treow,” and “treon,” but not yet any use of the word “tree” (OED). After 1377, we have uses of “tre” (“A tre haþ..þe rynde, bowes, twigges, leues, blosmes, floures and frute” (Trevisa, Bartholomew de Glanville)) (OED) until finally, in 1481, we have our first recorded use of the word “tree” (“He brake a rodde of a tree” (Caxton, History of Reynard Fox)) (OED).
Prior to this it was extended to include shrubbery of “erect growth and having a single stem” (OED), with one of the first uses dating back to 1350 (“If, roser et cenelere, hw, rosetre and hawetre” (Transactions of Philological Study)) (OED). It has also been used to figuratively refer to a person, the first recorded use of which being from-you guessed it-William Shakespeare in Richard III (“The roiall tree hath left vs roiall fruit”) (OED).
From the late 1500s onward, it seems that “tree” was used to refer to what we know of as trees. There may be some variants of the word here and there, but it was almost exclusively “tree”. This could be because of more widespread education and learning of spelling. It also could be because of more agreeance on what is spelled since, around then, some of the first dictionaries were being published. With the rise of literacy rates and more widespread knowledge of spelling, more people were able to agree on a spelling of different words, and thus came the word “tree”.
Will this word remain through the ages? Who knows. Only time will tell.
Works Cited
“Samuel Johnson and the ‘first English Dictionary’ (Chapter 12) - the Cambridge Companion to English Dictionaries.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-english-dictionaries/samuel-johnson-and-the-first-english-dictionary/D3999C74ED1D776735E1C3F682E43F9B. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
“Tree (n.).” Etymology, www.etymonline.com/word/tree#etymonline_v_16929. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
“Tree Noun - Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation and Usage Notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at Oxfordlearnersdictionaries.Com.” Oxford English Dictionary, www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/tree. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.