# yew
## English

Wikispecies

### Etymology 1

From Middle English ew, from Old English īw, ēow, from Proto-West Germanic *īhu, from Proto-Germanic *īhwaz (compare Icelandic ýr), masculine variant of *īwō (compare Dutch ijf, German Eibe), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw-.
See also Hittite [script needed] (eja, “type of evergreen”), Welsh yw (“yews”), Irish eo [both cognates of Old English īw, Old English ēow]; and Latgalian īva (“bird cherry”), Lithuanian ievà (“bird cherry”), Russian и́ва (íva, “willow”).

#### Alternative forms

* ew (obsolete)

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: yo͞o, IPA: /juː/, /jɪʊ̯/
* Rhymes: -uː
* Homophones: ewe, u, you, eau; hew, hue, Hugh (h-dropping)

#### Noun

yew (countable and uncountable, plural yews)
* (countable) A species of coniferous tree, Taxus baccata, with dark-green flat needle-like leaves and seeds bearing red arils, native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia.
    Synonyms: English yew, European yew, common yew
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto II:Old Yew, which graspest at the stones ⁠That name the under-lying dead, ⁠Thy fibres net the dreamless head, Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
** 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 273:Have a tree or two the witches particularly like, such as the alder, larch, cypress and hemlock; then, to counteract any possible evil effects, there must be a holly, yew, hazel, elder, mountain ash or juniper.
** 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 119:At Darley Dale, in Derbyshire, there is another yew about 1,000 years younger with a 32 ft girth, while a mighty yew at Goudhurst, Kent, has a bench seating 12 in its hollow trunk.
* (countable, by extension) Any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus.
* Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus:
** in family Podocarpaceae.
** in family Cephalotaxaceae.
* (uncountable) The wood of the such trees.
** 1786, Francis Grose, “Of Offensive Arms, or Weapons”, in A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 37–38:To prevent a too great conſumption of yew, bowyers were directed to make four bows of witch-haſel, aſh or elm, to one of yew, and no perſon under ſeventeen years of age, unleſs poſſeſſed of moveables worth forty marks, or the ſon of parents having an eſtate of ten pounds per annum might ſhoot in an yew bow, under a penalty of 6s. 8d.
* A bow for archery, made of yew wood.

##### Derived terms

* Anglojap yew
* Canadian yew (Taxus canadensis)
* catkin yew (Amentotaxus spp.)
* Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis)
* Eubank, Ewbank
* European yew, common yew (Taxus baccata)
* Florida yew (Taxus floridana)
* Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana)
* Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata)
* Mexican yew (Taxus globosa)
* New Caledonian yew, southern yew (Austrotaxus spicata)
* nutmeg yew (Torreya spp.)
* Pacific yew, western yew (Taxus brevifolia)
* plum yew, plum-yew (Cephalotaxus spp. or Prumnopitys spp.)
* Prince Albert's yew (Saxegothaea conspicua)
* self-yew
* Sumatran yew (Taxus sumatrana)
* white-berry yew (Pseudotaxus chienii)
* yew pine

##### Translations
#### Adjective

yew (not comparable)
* Made from the wood of the yew tree.
    Synonym: yewen

##### Translations
#### See also

* Taxus baccata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2
#### Pronoun

yew
* Eye dialect spelling of you.
** 2012 July 1, T.L. Stanley, “No more crimes for her to solve”, in Los Angeles Times‎:A spinoff, “Major Crimes,” starring “Battlestar Galactica” veteran Mary McDonnell and a number of “Closer” cast members, premieres in August. Sedgwick won’t be among them, swapping Brenda’s syrupy “thank yew” for an upbeat “buh-bye now” to her co-workers.

##### Derived terms

* hold yew hard

### References

* ↑ Marlies Philippa et al., eds., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, A-Z, s.v. “ijf” (Amsterdam UP, 3 Dec. 2009).

### Anagrams

* Wey, Wye, wey, wye

## Jumjum
### Alternative forms

* yewwe

### Etymology

Cognate with Shilluk áryew, Belanda Bor arɛw, Southwestern Dinka reu, Dinka rou.

### Numeral

yew
* two

## Middle English
### Pronoun

yew
* Alternative form of yow

## Noone
### Noun

yew (plural yêw)
* house

### References

* R. Blench, Beboid Comparative

## Yola
### Etymology

From Middle English yew, from Old English īw, ēow, from Proto-West Germanic *īhu.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /juː/

### Noun

yew
* The portion of the ridge taken by each reaper in harvest.
* The same laid in rows for binding into sheaves.

### References

* Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 134

## Zazaki
### Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *Haywas.

### Numeral

yew
* one