Definition of "beech" []

• A deciduous tree of the genus Fagus having smooth gray bark, alternate simple leaves, and three-angled nuts enclosed in prickly burs. The best-known species are F. grandifolia of eastern North America and the European species F. sylvatica and its numerous cultivated forms. (noun)
• The wood of any of these trees, used for flooring, containers, plywood, and tool handles. (noun)
• Any of several other woody plants, as in the genera Carpinus and Nothofagus. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The PLUS mills are made in beech wood and come in 3 versions; a white salt, a black peppermill and a multicoloured version that has both the salt and pepper option."
• "The nearest Japanese site is Shirakami-Sanchi in the far north of Honshu which preserves the last virgin Japanese beech forest and the vulnerable Japanese black bear but is not at all comparable in richness of species except for insects."
• "Apparently it comes from “beech” as in beech tree because the Saxons and Germans usually wrote runes on pieces of beechen board."