willow
pronunciation
How to pronounce willow in British English:
UK [ˈwɪləʊ]
How to pronounce willow in American English:
US [ˈwɪloʊ]
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- Noun:
- any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
- a textile machine having a system of revolving spikes for opening and cleaning raw textile fibers
Word Origin
- willow (n.)
- Old English welig "willow," from Proto-Germanic *wel- (cognates: Old Saxon wilgia, Middle Dutch wilghe, Dutch wilg), probably from PIE *wel- (3) "to turn, roll," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects, cognate with Greek helix (see volvox). The change in form to -ow (14c.) paralleled that of bellow and fellow. The more typical Germanic word for the tree is represented by withy.
Example
- 1. Willow creek has two very different services .
- 2. Many drugs come from plants ; aspirin was isolated from willow bark .
- 3. We did not speak all the way home . We went to bed and slept deep as willow logs .
- 4. A willow ptarmigan in winter plumage , hidden on a brushy slope near churchill , manitoba , canada .
- 5. Doctors had known for millennia that willow bark and poppy sap relieve pain .