Word.ws English Dictionary

hornbeams

hornbeams is the plural of hornbeam.

Meaning of hornbeam

Noun (1)

hornbeam (plural hornbeams)

  1. (countable) A tree of the genus Carpinus, having smooth grey bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard, found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
    • The Horn-beam, in Latine the Carpinus, is planted of Sets; though it may likevviſe be raiſed from the Seeds, […] Thus it vvill advance to a conſiderable Tree.1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Of the Horn-Beam”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry...
    1. (countable) Especially, the American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), which is common along the banks of streams in the United States.
    2. (countable) Especially, the common hornbeam or European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).
      • Betulus, or the Hornebeame tree grovveth great, & very like vnto the Elme, or vvich Hazell tree, hauing a great body: the vvood or timber vvherof […] in time it vvaxeth ſo hard, that the toughnes and hardnes of it, may be rather compared vnto horne then vnto vvood, and therfore it vvas called...1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Hornebeame, or Hardbeame Tree”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC...
  2. (uncountable) The wood of these trees or one species of them; (countable) a sample of such wood.

Noun (2)

hornbeam (plural hornbeams)

  1. Synonym of beam (“the principal stem of the antler of a deer, which branches grow out from”).
    Synonyms:
    beam
  2. (obsolete) A beam or ray of light emanating from the head of a deity like a horn.
    • With toole ſharp poincted wee boarde and perced his one light [the single eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus], / That ſtood in his lowring front gloommiſh malleted onlye. / Like Greekiſh tergat gliſtring, or Phœbus his hornebeams.1582, “The Third Booke of Virgil His Æneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC, page 59

Phrases with hornbeams

Questions about hornbeams

What is hornbeams the plural of?
Hornbeams is the plural of hornbeam.

Words near hornbeams in the dictionary

  1. Hornbakers
  2. hornball
  3. hornballs
  4. hornbast
  5. hornbeam
  6. hornbeams
  7. Hornbeck
  8. Hornbecks
  9. Hornberger
  10. Hornbergers
  11. hornbill

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hornbeams (page history and authors); hornbeam (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “hornbeams.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hornbeams. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.