English
arbor
Arbor comes from Old French erbier ‘field, meadow, kitchen garden’, from erbe ‘grass, herb’, and ultimately from Latin herba.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherba1‘grass, herb’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400erbe1‘grass, herb’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400erbier1‘field, meadow, kitchen garden’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arbour1
- Englishearliest quotation 1960arbor1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English arbor
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird: “Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbaWiktionary, English arbor‘grass, herb’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400erbeWiktionary, English arbor‘grass, herb’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400erbierWiktionary, English arbor‘field, meadow, kitchen garden’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500arbourWiktionary, English arbor
- Englishearliest quotation 1960arborWiktionary, English arbor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird: “Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we…”
The story
From Middle English arbour, erbour, from Old French erbier (‘field, meadow, kitchen garden’), from erbe (‘grass, herb’), from Latin herba (‘grass, herb’) (English herb). (Compare Late Latin herbārium, although erbier is possibly an independent formation.) The spelling was influenced by Latin arbor (‘tree’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow, become green’
green, grow, grass, groom, gourmet, graze, greedily, ambergris, yerba, 16 more
through Latin herba ‘grass, herb’
herbaceous, herbivore, herbivorous, 3 more
through Old French erbe ‘grass, herb’
Another origin of arbor
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃erdʰ-‘high’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃r̥dʰōsreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*arðōs‘tree’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEarbōs
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEarbor‘a tree’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400arbre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentarbre‘tree, axis’
- Englishtodayarbor
Borrowed from French arbre (‘tree, axis’), spelling influenced by Latin arbor (‘tree’).
Today it means
noun A shady sitting place or pergola usually in a park or garden, surrounded by climbing shrubs, vines or other vegetation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “arbor”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin herba / arbor