Wordwyrt

laurel

/ˈlɔːɹəl/LAW-ruhl
/ˈlɔɹəl/LAW-ruhl

Meaningbay tree

Common meaning: an evergreen tree whose leaves were used for wreaths

Journey through time

  1. LatinJaurus‘bay tree’source
  2. Late Latindaurariussource
  3. Frenchmeaning shiftsbay tree → a laurell, or bay-treelaurier‘a laurell, or bay-tree’source
  4. Middle Englishlaurer‘laurel’source
  5. Englishmeaning shiftsa laurell, or bay-tree → an evergreen tree whose leaves were used for wreathslaurel‘an evergreen tree whose leaves were used for wreaths’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin Jaurus ‘bay tree’.

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app