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A branch (American English
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 , British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 ) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
 as a ramus) is a woody structural member
Limb (anatomy)

A limb is a jointed, or prehensile , appendage of the human or other animal body.Most animals use limbs for locomotion, such as walking, running, or climbing....
 connected to but not part of the central trunk
Trunk (botany)

In botany, trunk refers to the main structural member of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots....
 of a tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 (or sometimes a shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs..

While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches.

The term "twig
Twig

Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
" often refers to a terminal branch
Terminus

Terminus is a Latin word that literally means boundary marker but can refer to:*Train station#Terminus, a train station acting as an end destination...
, while "bough" refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk.

use of the enormous quantity of branches in the world, there are a variety of names in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 alone for them.






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A branch (American English
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 , British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 ) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany
Botany

Botany, plant science, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of biology and is the Scientific method of plant life and development....
 as a ramus) is a woody structural member
Limb (anatomy)

A limb is a jointed, or prehensile , appendage of the human or other animal body.Most animals use limbs for locomotion, such as walking, running, or climbing....
 connected to but not part of the central trunk
Trunk (botany)

In botany, trunk refers to the main structural member of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots....
 of a tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 (or sometimes a shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs..

While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches.

The term "twig
Twig

Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
" often refers to a terminal branch
Terminus

Terminus is a Latin word that literally means boundary marker but can refer to:*Train station#Terminus, a train station acting as an end destination...
, while "bough" refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk.

Words

Because of the enormous quantity of branches in the world, there are a variety of names in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 alone for them. In general however, unspecific words for a branch (such as rise and rame) have been replaced
Archaism

In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula ....
 by the word branch itself.

Specific terms


A bough can also be called a limb or arm, and though these are arguably metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
s, both are widely accepted synonym
Synonym

Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy....
s for bough.

A twig
Twig

Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
 is frequently referred to as a sprig as well, especially when it has been plucked. Other words for twig include branchlet, spray, and surcle, as well as the technical terms surculus and ramulus.

Branches found under larger branches can be called underbranches.

Some branches from specific trees have their own names, such as osiers and withes or withies
Withy

Withy is the name given to strong flexible willow stems that are typically used in thatching and for gardening. An advantage of using this type of material is said to be a greater resistance to woodworm....
, which come from willow
Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
s. Often trees have certain words which, in English, are naturally collocated
Collocation

Within the area of corpus linguistics, collocation is defined as a sequence of words or terminology which co-occurrence more often than would be expected by chance....
, such as holly
Holly

Holly is a genus of approximately 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family....
 and mistletoe
Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for a group of parasitic plant plants in the Order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub....
, which usually employ the phrase "sprig of" (as in, a "sprig of mistletoe"). Similarly, the branch of a cherry tree
Cherry

The word cherry refers to a fleshy fruit that contains a single stony seed. The cherry belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Prunus, along with almonds, peaches, plums, apricots and bird cherry ....
 is generally referred to as a "cherry branch", while other such formations (i.e., "acacia
Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
 branch" or "orange
Orange (fruit)

An orange?specifically, the sweet orange?is the citrus Citrus sinensis and its fruit. The orange is a Hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo and tangerine ....
 branch") carry no such alliance. A good example of this versatility is oak
Oak

The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus , which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably Lithocarpus....
, which could be referred to as variously an "oak branch", an "oaken branch", a "branch of oak", or the "branch of an oak [tree]".

Once a branch has been cut or in any other way removed from its source, it is most commonly referred to as a stick, and a stick employed for some purpose (such as walking
Walking

Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on Earth, distinguished from running and crawling . When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling or climbing....
, spanking
Spanking

Spanking is a form of corporal punishment that generally consists of striking the buttocks. The recipient is most often a child or teenager. In some parts of the world, and at some times in history, women were also typical recipients, but this is no longer common in most of the world....
, or beating) is often called a rod. Thin, flexible sticks are called switch
Switch (rod)

A switch is a flexible rod, typically used for physical punishment of the birching type, called switching after it, especially when using a single branch: multiple branches are rather called a rod, a less flexible single rod is rather called a caning, an inflexible one a stick; a paddle is broader but hard and flattened....
es, wands, shrags, or vimina (singular vimen).

History and etymology


In Old English there are numerous words for branch, including seten, stofn, telgor, and hris. There are also numerous descriptive words, such as bled (that is, something that has bled, or "bloomed", out), bogincel (literally "little bough"), owęstm (literally "on growth"), and tudornes (literally "offspringing"). Numerous other words for twigs and boughs abound, including tan, which still surves as the "-toe" in mistletoe.

Images


See also

  • Root
    Root

    In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
  • Trunk (botany)
    Trunk (botany)

    In botany, trunk refers to the main structural member of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots....
  • Twig
    Twig

    Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
  • Plant stem
    Plant stem

    A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
  • Runner
    Stolon

    Stolons are horizontal plant stems which grow at the soil surface or below ground. They form new plants at the ends or at the Node s. Stolons are often called runners....
  • Shoot
    Shoot

    Shoots are new plant growth, they can include plant stem, flowering stems with flower buds, leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop....
  • Sucker
    Basal shoot

    A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots....
  • Wand
    Wand

    A wand is a thin, straight, hand-held stick of wood, ivory, or metal. Generally, in modern language, wands are ceremonial and/or have associations with Magic but there have been other uses, all stemming from the original meaning as a synonym of rod and virge, both of which had a similar development....
  • Switch (rod)
    Switch (rod)

    A switch is a flexible rod, typically used for physical punishment of the birching type, called switching after it, especially when using a single branch: multiple branches are rather called a rod, a less flexible single rod is rather called a caning, an inflexible one a stick; a paddle is broader but hard and flattened....
  • Staff (stick)
    Staff (stick)

    A staff is a large, thick stick or stick-shaped object used to help with walking, as a status symbol, as a component of traditional cooper , or as a weapon....