Yewとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

From 中期英語 ew, from 古期英語 īw, ēow, [both cognates of Welsh yw (“yews”), Irish eo, Old Irish eó respectively]; although the 古期英語 form was conjectured to be 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 𒄑𒂊𒅀𒀭 (eyan, “type of evergreen”), Latgalian īva (“bird cherry”), Lithuanian ievà (“bird cherry”), Russian и́ва (íva, “willow”).

別の表記

• ew (obsolete)

発音

• enPR: yo͞o, IPA: /juː/, /jɪʊ̯/
• 韻: -uː
• 異形同音異義語: ewe, u, you, eau; hew, hue, Hugh (h-dropping)

名詞

yew (countable and uncountable, plural yews)

1. (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], “Canto II”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     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.

2. (countable, by extension) Any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus.
3. Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus:
   1. in family Podocarpaceae.
   2. in family Cephalotaxaceae.
4. (uncountable) The wood of 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.

   • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 155:

     English soldiers handled sturdy bows of yew, ash, or elm, which could propel an iron-tipped arrow as far as a hundred yards.

5. A bow for archery, made of yew wood.

派生語

形容詞

yew (not comparable)

1. Made from the wood of the yew tree.

   Synonym: yewen

参考

• Taxus baccata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

語源 2

代名詞

yew

1. 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.

派生語

• hold yew hard

参照

アナグラム

• Wey, Wye, wey, wye