Word Study
maple
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun maple has 2 senses
- maple(n = noun.plant) - wood of any of various maple trees; especially the hard close-grained wood of the sugar maple; used especially for furniture and flooring; has particulars: bird's-eye maple
- maple(n = noun.plant) - any of numerous trees or shrubs of the genus Acer bearing winged seeds in pairs; north temperate zone; is a member of acer, genus acer
is a kind of wood
has particulars: acer saccharinum, silver maple, acer saccharum, rock maple, sugar maple, acer rubrum, red maple, scarlet maple, swamp maple, acer pennsylvanicum, goosefoot maple, moose-wood, moosewood, striped dogwood, striped maple, acer macrophyllum, big-leaf maple, oregon maple, acer glabrum, dwarf maple, rocky-mountain maple, acer spicatum, mountain alder, mountain maple, acer circinatum, vine maple, acer campestre, field maple, hedge maple, acer platanoides, norway maple, acer pseudoplatanus, great maple, scottish maple, sycamore, acer negundo, ash-leaved maple, box elder, acer argutum, pointed-leaf maple, acer japonicum, full moon maple, japanese maple, acer palmatum, japanese maple
is a kind of angiospermous tree, flowering tree
CIDE DICTIONARY
maple, n. [AS. mapolder, mapulder, mapol; akin to Icel. möpurr; cf. OHG. mazzaltra, mazzoltra, G. massholder.].
A tree of the genus Acer , including about fifty species. Acer saccharinum is the rock maple , or sugar maple , from the sap of which sugar is made, in the United States, in great quantities, by evaporation; the red maple or swamp maple is Acer rubrum ; the silver maple , Acer dasycarpum , having fruit wooly when young; the striped maple , Acer Pennsylvanium , called also moosewood . The common maple of Europe is Acer campestre , the sycamore maple is Acer Pseudo-platanus , and the Norway maple is Acer platanoides . [1913 Webster]
" Maple is much used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound; as, maple tree, maple leaf, etc."
[1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
maple, n.
1 any tree or shrub of the genus Acer grown for shade, ornament, wood, or its sugar.
2 the wood of the maple.
1 any tree or shrub of the genus Acer grown for shade, ornament, wood, or its sugar.
2 the wood of the maple.
Idiom
maple-leaf the leaf of the maple, used as an emblem of Canada. maple sugar a sugar produced by evaporating the sap of the sugar maple etc. maple syrup a syrup produced from the sap of the sugar maple etc.
Etymology
ME mapul etc. f. OE mapeltreow, mapulder
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