Birk

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /bɜː(ɹ)k/

Definitions

1. A tree usually located in northern environments
2. A deciduous tree commonly found in cold climates with distinctive white bark
3. A slender tree species known for its light-colored bark often seen in northern forests

Etymology: "Birk" is a northern English and Scots form of "birch," and the two words are really one word spoken in different regions. Where southern Middle English had "birche," the north had "birk," "birke," and "byrke," and the northern forms survived in dialect long after the southern one became standard. The Scots word for the tree, "birk," comes from the same northern stock, so the Scottish and northern English usages are close relatives rather than borrowings from one another. The word is therefore a regional variant of "birch" rather than a separate word with its own history. Anyone who meets "birk" in a Scottish or northern English text is reading the same tree under a different local name.

Synonyms: birch