maple

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun wood of any of various maple trees; especially the hard close-grained wood of the sugar maple; used especially for furniture and flooring
  2. noun any of numerous trees or shrubs of the genus Acer bearing winged seeds in pairs; north temperate zone

Etymology

From Middle English mapel, from Old English *mapul (attested in mapultrēow and mapulder), from Proto-West Germanic *mapul. See also Old Saxon mapulder, Old High German mazaltra, mazzaltra; also Old Norse mǫpurr, Middle Low German mapeldorn, dialectal Dutch meppel, German Masseller, Maßholder; also Old English mæsen (“maple”), Old Norse mǫsurr (“maple”), German Maser (“knob, offshoot”); also German Mase (“scar”), modern Maser (“speck, measle”). More at measles.

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