oak 
see ilnjad). The Lith. (in:ohi/t, Lett, ohsols, oak, 
are prob. not related to the Teut. name. For 
the confusion of acorn with mil,; see tinira. Oak 
(ME. oke) occurs in the surnames Rakes and 
Snooks.'] 1. A tree or shrub of the genus Quer- 
cus, a large and widely dispersed group, chiefly 
of forest-trees. In its nobler representatives the oak 
as "the monarch of the forest" has always been impres- 
sive, and it anciently held an important place in religious 
and civil ceremonies. Oak chaplets were a reward of civic 
merit among the Romans ; the Druids venerated the oak 
as well as the mistletoe which grows upon it. The tim- 
ber of many species is of great economic value, and the 
bark of several is used for tanning and dyeing and in med- 
icine. (See oak-bark and quercitron.) One species fur- 
nishes cork (see corki). The fruit-cups of some are used 
in tanning (see valimia). (See also galls, kennes, and kermes- 
oak.) The oak of English history and literature is chiefly 
the British oak. Quercus liobur, having two varieties, pectun- 
culata and sessilijlora. often regarded as species. The spe- 
cies is distributed throughout agreat part of Europe and in 
western Asia. It attains great age, with an extreme height 
of 120 feet. For ship-buildyig its timber is considered in- 
valuable, having the requisite toughness and most other 
qualities without extreme weight, and until recently it 
was the prevailing material of British shipping. It is 
also used for construction, cabinet-work, etc. Its bark is 
6 / 7 
Leaves and Acorns of different species of Oak. 
:, willow-oak of North America (Qiterctfs PhellosY, 2, chestnut-oak 
me 
rica (Q. 
I, willow-oak of North America (Quercus Phellos); y, ch 
of North America (Q. Prinus}; 3. black-jack of North Al 
>tipra }; 4. Q. Ilex, of Europe ; 5, Q. aciitn, of Japan ; 6, Q. la 
folia, of the Malay peninsula : 7. scarlet oak of North Ameri 
coccmea) ; 8, Q. litcida, of the Malay peninsula. 
a tanning substance of great importance. In the eastern 
half of North America the white oak, Q. alba, in England 
sometimes called Quebec oak, occupies a somewhat simi- 
lar but less commanding position. It rises from 70 to 140 
feet, and affords a hard, tough, and durable wood, used, 
implements, cabinet-making, etc. The bur overcup or 
mossy-cup oak, Q. macrocarpa, is a tree of similar range, 
equal size, and even superior wood, which is not always 
distinguished from that of the white oak. 
2. One of various other trees or plants in some 
respects resembling the oak. 3. The wood of 
an oak-tree. 4. One of certain moths: as, the 
scalloped oak. [British collectors' name.] 5. 
The club at cards. ffalliiceU. [Prov. Eng.] 
4050 
Same as quercitron oak. Evergreen oak, when used 
specifically, same as holm-oak. Forest oak. See Casu- 
arina. Gall-oak. See galls. _ Gospel oak, holy oak, 
individual oaks here and there in England under which 
religious services were held, and which became resting- 
stations in the old ceremony of beating the parish bounds. 
Dearest, bury me 
Under that holy oke or Gosjfel Tree ; 
Where, though thou see'st not, thou mayst think upon 
Me, when thou yearly go'st Procession. Herrick. 
Green oak, a condition of oak-wood caused by its being 
impregnated with the spawn of Peziia aenujinosa. Heart 
of oak. See he art. Indian oak. See tea*. Iron-oak, 
the Turkey oak, or post-oak. Italian oak, Quercus Escu- 
lus of southern Europe and western Asia, supposed to be 
the cesculus of Virgil. Erroneously called Italian beech. 
Jerusalem oak, oak of Jerusalem, the herb Chenopo- 
dium Botrys: so called from the form of its leaves. Also 
called feather-geranium. See Chenopodium and ambrose. 
Laurel-oak, (a) Quercus laurifolia, an unimportant 
species of the southeastern United States, (b) Same as 
shingle-oak. Lea's oak, Quercus Leana, an apparent hy- 
brid between Q. imbricaria and Q. tinctoria. Live oak. 
See Urn-oak. Man in the oak. See man. Maul-oak. 
See live-oak. Mossy-cup oak. (a) The bur-oak, some- 
times distinguished as U'hite mossy-cup, (b) The Turkey 
oak. New Zealand oak. See Knightia. Nut-gall 
oak. See gall'*. Oaks of Baslian, oaks apparently of 
several species the Valonia-oak, the holm-oak, and oth- 
ers. Overcup-oak. See def. i, and post-oak. Peach- 
oak. See chestnut-oak, above, and willow-oak. Quebec 
oak. See def. 1. Royal oak, an oak-tree formerly 
standing at Boscobel (border of Shropshire and Stafford- 
shire, England), in which Charles II. took refuge for a day 
soon after his defeat at Worcester, on September 3d, 1051. 
Scarlet oak, a North American oak, Quercus coccinea: 
so named from the color of its leaves in autumn. Silky 
or silk-bark oak. See GmMea. Tan-bark oak. See 
chestnut-oak, above. The Oaks stakes, a race run at 
Epsom in Surrey, England, two days after the Derby. 
These races were originated by the twelfth Earl of Derby 
in 1779, and received their name from Lambert's Oaks in 
the parish of Woodmansterne, near Epsom. To sport 
one's oak, in Eny. university slang, to be "not at home" 
to visitors this being notified by closing the outer oat 
door of one's rooms. Turkey oak, Quercus Cerris, the 
mossy-cup oak of southern Europe. Its wood is prized 
by wheelwrights, cabinet-makers, etc., and is also useful 
for building. The American Turkey oak is Q. Catesbtxi 
of the southeastern United States. Its wood is useful 
chiefly for fuel. Q. falcala, the Spanish oak, is also some- 
times locally called Turkey oak.~ Valparaiso oak. See 
live-oak. Weeping oak. See white oak, below. White 
oak, Quercus alba (see def. 1), and four species of Pacific 
North America : namely, Q. lobata, the weeping oak ; Q. 
Garryana, its wood the best subtitute in that region for 
eastern white oak; Q. oblongifolia ; and Q. grisea. The 
mountain white oak, or blue oak, is the California!! Q. 
Dmtglasii. The swamp white oak is Q. bitolor of eastern 
North America; its wood is used for the same purposes 
as that of Q. alba. The water white oak is the same as 
the sieamp post-oak. See post-oak. Yellow-bark oak. 
See quercitron. Yellow oak. See chestnut-oak, above, 
and quercitron. (See also he-oak, jack-oak, kermes-oak.) 
oak-apple (6k'ap"l), . An oak-gall. See galfi. 
Oak-apple day, in England, the 29th of May, on which 
day boys wear oak-apples in their hats in commemoration 
of King Charles's adventure in the oak-tree. (See royal 
oak, under oak.) The apple and a leaf or two are some- 
times gilded and exhibited for a week or more on the 
chimneypiece or in the window. This rustic commemora- 
tion is, however, falling Into disuse. Halliieett. 
oak-bark (ok'bark), n. The bark of some spe- 
tent in dyeing and in medicine. The white oak, 
Quercus alba, is the officinal species in the United States. 
See oak, 1, chestnut-oak (under oak), and quercitron. 
oak-barren (ok'bar"en), . See opening, 5. 
oak-beauty (6k'bu"ti), n. A handsome geo- 
metrid moth, Biston or Ampliidasis prodromaria, 
whose larva feeds on the oak. 
oak-beetle (6k'be"tl), n. A serricorn beetle of 
the family Eucnemidce. Adams. 
the patriarch is supposed to have pitched his tent. -Afri- 
can oak, a valuable wood for some ship-building niir 
poses, obtained from OldfidaiaA fricana. Also called Afri. 
canteak. Barren oak, the black-jack, ettera mora- so 
called from growing in sandy barrens Bartram's oak 
a rare and local tree of the United States Quercus Lto-o-' 
phylla, sometimes regarded as a hybrid. Basket-oak 
Quercus Michavxii, the common white oak of the Gulf 
States: useful for implements, cooperage, construction, 
cies, Quercus Ballota, of the Mediterranean region, whose 
acorns, raw or boiled, furnish an important food Also 
ballote. - Bitter oak, the Turkey oak. Black oak (a) 
Ihe quercitron oak. (b) The red oak. (c) Qwrcm Emvrui 
of Texas. Blue oak. Same as mountain white oak 
Botany Bay oak, any tree of the genus Casuarina (which 
see). See also beefwood. British oak, English oak. See 
def. 1. Bur-oak. See def. 1. Charter oak an oak- 
tree m Hartford, Connecticut, in which, according to 
tradition, was concealed in 1687 the colonial charter 
which had been demanded by the royal governor Andros. 
The tree was blown down in 1856. Chestnut-oak, one 
veral American species with leaves like the chestnut : 
name y Queraui Pnnus, rock chestnut-oak, with timber 
useful for fencing, railroad-ties, etc., and bark excellent 
for tanning ; o. prinoides. also called yellow oak and chin- 
kapin-oak, with wood like the last, and small edible acorns- 
and Q densifara, tanbark- or peach-oak, its wood largely 
tanning. Chinkapin-oak. See chestnut-oak Cork- 
oak. Same as cort-free.-Cow-oak. Same as batket- 
oa*. Dominica oak. See Ilex. Duck-oak See wa- 
fer-oa*.-Durmast oak. See durmast.- Dyers' oak. 
gents in the north of Ireland in the year 1763. 
They are said to have risen in resistance to an act which 
required householders to give personal labor on the roads. 
Another of their grievances was the resumption by some 
of the clergy of a stricter exaction of tithes. The move- 
ment was soon repressed. The Oakboys received their 
name from oak-sprays which they wore in their hats. 
oak-chestnut (ok'ches'nut), n. A shrub or 
tree of the genus Castanopsis. 
OFries. eken, etzen = D. eiken = MLG. eken, 
ekensch = OHG. eiehin, MHGt. eicliin, eiclitn, G. 
eiclien = Icel. eikinn), of oak, < ac, oak: see 
oak.'] Made of oak; consisting of oak-trees, 
or of branches, leaves, orwood, etc., of the oak: 
as, an oaken plank or bench. 
Lady Marjorie is condemned to die, 
To be burnt in a fire of oaken [wood]. 
Lady Marjorie (Child's Ballads, II. 340). 
No nation doth equal England for oaken timber where- 
with to build ships. Bacon, Advice to Villiers. 
Clad in white velvet all their troop they led, 
With each an oaken chaplet on his head. 
Dryden, Flower and Leaf, I. 253. 
When oaken woods with buds are pink. 
Lowell, The Nest. 
oakenpint (6'kn-pin), n. An apple so called 
from its hardness. Mortimer, Husbandry, 
oakert, n. An obsolete spelling of oeher. 
oakum 
oak-feeding (6k'fe"ding), a. Feeding on oak- 
leiivcs ; quercivorous : specifically said of cer- 
tain silkworms, larvte of the moths Antliertea 
yamamai of Japan and B.permji of China, which 
produce an inferior kind of silk. 
oak-fern (ok'fern), . The fern Polypodium 
I'lt< i/<> /I teris. 
oak-fig (ok'fig), n. A gall produced on twigs of 
white oak in the United States by Cynips forti- 
cornis: so called from its resemblance to a fig. 
oak-frog (ok'frog), n. A North American toad, 
Bufo quercus: so called because it frequents 
oak-openings. 
oak-gall (ok'gal), n. An oak-apple or oak-wart. 
See yalfi. 
oak-nooktip (ok'huk'tip), n. A British moth, 
P/titi/pteryx Itamula. 
oak-lappet (6k'lap"et), . A British moth, Gas- 
tropaclta quercifolia. 
oak-leather (ok'leTH'er), . A kind of fungus- 
mycelium found in old oaks running down the 
fissures, and when removed not unlike white 
kid-leather. It is very common in America, 
where it is sometimes used in making plasters. 
oakling (6k ' ling), n. [< oak + -ling 1 ."} A 
young or small oak. 
There was lately an avenue of four leagues in length, 
and fifty paces in breadth, planted with young oaklings. 
Evelyn, Sylva, I. ix. 8. 
oak-lungs (ok'lungz), n. A species of lichen, 
Sticta pulmonacea ; lungwort. 
oak-opening (6k'6p"ning), . See opening, 5. 
oak-paper (ok'pa"per), n. Paper, as for wall- 
hangings, printed in imitation of the veinings 
of oak. 
oak-pest (6k'- 
pest), n. An 
insect special- 
ly injurious to 
the oak; spe- 
cifically,inthe 
UnitedStates, 
Phylloxera ri- 
leyi, the only 
member of the 
genus which 
infests the 
oak. It pro- 
duces a seared 
appearance of 
the leaves, and 
hibernates on 
the twigs. 
Oak-plum 
fnV'r>liiTn'\ 11 
(OK pium_), U. . 
A gall pro- 
duced on the acorns of the black and red oaks 
in the United States by Cynips quercus-pruntts : 
so called from its resemblance to a plum. 
oak-potato (6k'p6-ta"to), n. A gall produced 
on the twigs of wtite oaks in the United States 
by Cynips quereus-latatus : so called from its 
resemblance to a potato. 
oak-spangle (ok'spaiig'gl), n. A flattened pi- 
lose gall occurring singly on the lower side of 
oak-leaves. That found in England is produced 
by Cynips longipennis, a small hymenopter. 
oak-tangle (ok'tang'gl), w. A thicket of oak- 
shrubs or -trees. 
They come from the oak-tangles of the environing hills. 
The Century, XXXVII. 416. 
oak-tanned(ok'tand), a. Tanned with a solution 
the principal ingredient of which is oak-bark. 
oak-tree (ok'tre), n. [< ME. okctre, < AS. dc- 
treow (=Dan. egetne), < ac, oak, + trcow, tree.] 
The oak. 
Oakum (6'kum), n. [Formerly also occam, ockam, 
and more prop, oeum, okum; < ME. "ociimbe, < 
AS. acumba, dcemba, alewmlta, teeemba (also eum- 
ba), tow, oakum (= OHG. dchambi, MHG. dkam- 
be, akamp, in comp. hanef-dkambe, hemp-oakum, 
the refuse of hemp when hackled), lit. 'that 
which is combed out,' < 'dcemban, comb out,< a-, 
out, + cemban, comb: see a-l, and comb 1 , konb. 
The AS. prefix o-, unaccented in verbs, takes the 
accent in nouns (cf . arist), and has in this case 
changed to E. oa (6).] 1. The coarse part sepa- 
rated from flax or hemp in hackling; tow. 
2. Junk or old ropes untwisted, and picked into 
loose fibers resembling tow : used for calking 
the seams of ships, stopping leaks, etc. That 
made from untarred ropes is called white oakum. 
d. 6 
Oak-pest (Phylloxera riltyi), enlarge.!. 
> Ppa; . winged female; f, antenna, 
reat 'y enlarged ; it, portion of infested leaf, 
