yew

yew
yew1
/yooh/, n.
1. any of several evergreen, coniferous trees and shrubs of the genera Taxus and Torreya, constituting the family Taxaceae, of the Old World, North America, and Japan, having needlelike or scalelike foliage and seeds enclosed in a fleshy aril.
2. the fine-grained, elastic wood of any of these trees.
3. an archer's bow made of this wood.
4. this tree or its branches as a symbol of sorrow, death, or resurrection.
[bef. 900; ME ew(e), OE eow, i(o)w; c. OHG iga, iwa (MHG iwe, G Eibe), ON ýr, MIr eó yew (OIr: stem, shaft), Welsh ywen yew tree, Russ íva willow]
yew2
/yooh/; unstressed /yoo/, pron. Eye Dial.
you.

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Any of about eight species of ornamental evergreens in the genus Taxus, family Taxaceae (the yew family), distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Two species are always shrubby, but the others may reach heights of 77 ft (25 m). The plants have many branches, covered with needlelike leaves. Yew wood is hard, fine-grained, and heavy, with white or creamy sapwood and amber to brown heartwood. Once popular for cabinetwork, implements, and archery bows, it is used more today for articles either carved or turned on a lathe. Other trees called yew but not in this family are the plum-yew (family Cephalotaxaceae) and Prince Albert yew (family Podocarpaceae).

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▪ plant
 any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus (family Taxaceae), approximately eight species of ornamental evergreens, distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Other trees called yew but not in this genus are the plum-yew, Prince Albert yew (see Podocarpaceae), and stinking yew. Two species are always shrubby, but the others may become trees up to 25 metres (about 80 feet) tall. Yews have rich, dark-green foliage. The branches are erect or spreading and are closely covered with flattened, linear leaves about 1/2 to 3 centimetres (about 1/5 to 1 1/5 inches) long. The leaves have two yellowish- or grayish-green bands along the underside. They are attached in spirals around the branch but, because of a twist at their bases, appear to grow in two rows along the sides of the branch. The reproductive structures, small, rounded, scaly, and conelike on pollen-bearing plants and minute, green, and solitary on ovule-bearing plants, are located between the leafstalk and the stem. The seeds are usually solitary, borne at the ends of short branches. As a seed matures, it is enveloped by a fleshy, red, cup-shaped aril. The foliage and seeds, but not the arils, contain a poisonous alkaloid, sometimes fatal to livestock.

      The many horticultural forms and cultivars of yews differ primarily in growth habit. Yew trees grow slowly but are long-lived and only moderately susceptible to attack by pests.

      Yew wood is hard, fine-grained, and heavy, with white or creamy sapwood and amber to brown heartwood. The lumber was once popular for cabinetwork, implements, and archery bows; it is used more today for carved articles and turnery. The bark of some species, notably the Pacific yew (T. brevifolia), contains quantities of the alkaloid taxol, which has proved effective in the treatment of some types of cancer.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Yew — may refer to:Botany*Any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Taxus : **European Yew or Common Yew ( Taxus baccata ) **Pacific Yew or Western Yew ( Taxus brevifolia ) **Canadian Yew ( Taxus canadensis ) **Chinese Yew ( Taxus… …   Wikipedia

  • Yew — Yew, n. [OE. ew, AS. e[ o]w, [=i]w, eoh; akin to D. ijf, OHG. [=i]wa, [=i]ha, G. eibe, Icel. [=y]r; cf. Ir. iubhar, Gael. iubhar, iughar, W. yw, ywen, Lith. j[ e]va the black alder tree.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Bot.) An evergreen tree ({Taxus… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Yew — ([=u]), a. Of or pertaining to yew trees; made of the wood of a yew tree; as, a yew whipstock. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • yew —    Yew trees symbolize both death and immortality, being poisonous but long lived, and able to re root their branches to produce fresh saplings. Until the 18th century, their foliage was laid in coffins and graves at *funerals. The custom of… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • yew — (n.) O.E. iw, eow yew, from P.Gmc. *iwa /*iwo (Cf. M.Du. iwe, Du. ijf, O.H.G. iwa, Ger. Eibe, O.N. yr), from PIE *ei wo (Cf. O.Ir. eo, Welsh ywen yew ), perhaps a suffixed form of *ei reddish, motley, yel …   Etymology dictionary

  • yew — yew; yew·berry; yew·en; …   English syllables

  • yew — [yo͞o] n. [ME ew < OE iw, eow, akin to Ger eibe (OHG iwa) < IE * (e)iwā < base * ei , reddish > L uva, grape: orig. name because of color of the wood] 1. a) any of a genus (Taxus) of evergreen shrubs and trees of the yew family,… …   English World dictionary

  • Yew — ([=u]), v. i. See {Yaw}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • yew — yü n any of a genus (Taxus of the family Taxaceae, the yew family) of evergreen trees and shrubs with stiff linear leaves and seeds surrounded by a fleshy red aril esp one (T. brevifolia) of the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Canada whose bark… …   Medical dictionary

  • yew — [ ju ] noun count a tree with dark green leaves that produces a bright red fruit a. uncount the wood of a yew tree …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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