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ar·bor ¹

(ärbər)

A shady resting place in a garden or park, often made of latticework on which plants such as climbing shrubs or vines are grown.

[Middle English herber, from Old French erbier, garden, from erbe, herb; see HERB.]

ar·bor²

(ärbər)

1. An axis or shaft supporting a rotating part on a lathe.

2. A bar for supporting cutting tools.

3. A spindle of a wheel, as in watches and clocks.

4. pl. ar·bo·res (ärbə-rēz′) A tree, as opposed to a shrub.

[French arbre, from Latin arbor, tree.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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