English
cedar
Cedar comes from Middle English cedre ‘Lebanon cedar or a similar tree’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cedre1‘Lebanon cedar or a similar tree’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912cedar1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English cedar
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Zane Grey, New York: “There had been dry seasons, accumulations of dust, wind-blown…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cedreWiktionary, English cedar‘Lebanon cedar or a similar tree’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912cedarWiktionary, English cedar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Zane Grey, New York: “There had been dry seasons, accumulations of dust, wind-blown…”
The story
Some suggest that the Middle English word was partially from Old English ċeder, but the gap in attestation between the two words makes this proposal unlikely.
Linked words
through Ancient Greek κέδρος
Today it means
noun A coniferous tree of the genus Cedrus in the family Pinaceae.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cedar”. 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 / Middle English cedre / cedar