Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hornbeam

/ˈhoɹnˌbim/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.92 in modern English

Syllables: horn-beam
IPA: /ˈhoɹnˌbim/

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Countable

noun

A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Countable

noun

A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Countable

noun

The wood of these trees or one species of them; (countable) a sample of such wood.

Uncountable

noun

Synonym of beam (“the principal stem of the antler of a deer, which branches grow out from”).

noun

A beam or ray of light emanating from the head of a deity like a horn.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"The Horn-beam, in Latine the Carpinus, is planted of Sets; though it may likevviſe be raiſed from the Seeds, […] Thus it vvill advance to a conſiderable Tree."
"Betulus, or the Hornebeame tree grovveth great, & very like vnto the Elme, or vvich Hazell tree, hauing a great body: the vvood or timber vvherof […] in time it vvaxeth ſo hard, that the toughnes and hardnes of it, may be rather compared vnto horne then vnto vvood, and therfore it vvas called Hornebeame, or Hardbeame: […]"
"With toole ſharp poincted wee boarde and perced his one light [the single eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus], / That ſtood in his lowring front gloommiſh malleted onlye. / Like Greekiſh tergat gliſtring, or Phœbus his hornebeams."

Etymology

From Late Middle English hornbeme, hernbem, hernebem (“European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)”), from horn (“antler or horn of an animal; etc.”) + bem (“tree; piece of metal, wood, etc.”) (referring to a tree with wood as hard as horn): * Horn is from Old English horn (“horn”), from Proto-West Germanic *horn (“horn”), from Proto-Germanic *hurną (“horn”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn; head, top”). * Bem is from Old English bēam (“tree; piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum (“tree; piece of wood”), possibly from Proto-Germanic *bagmaz (“tree; piece of wood”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂ǵʰ-mo-s (“branch”) or *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”). By surface analysis, horn + beam (“only in compounds: tree”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *ḱerh₂-, hornbeme, horn, *horn, *hurną, bēam

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈhoɹnˌbim/
British English: /ˈhɔːnbiːm/

Usage

Inflected Forms

hornbeams (plural)

Derived Forms

hophornbeam

Phrases

American hophornbeam American hop hornbeam eastern hop hornbeam European hophornbeam European hop hornbeam hop hornbeam

Synonyms

hardbeam beam

Questions

How do you pronounce hornbeam?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhoɹnˌbim/.
What does hornbeam mean?: A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Where does hornbeam come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce hornbeam

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hornbeam”.
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