• Aspen

    Origin

    Middle English aspen 'made of aspen wood', from asp 'aspen', from Old English æspe, from Proto-Germanic *aspǭ (compare Dutch esp, German Espe, Swedish asp), from Proto-Indo-European *Hosp- (compare Welsh aethnen, Latin abiēs 'fir', Latvian apse, Polish osa, Armenian op'i 'poplar').

    Full definition of aspen

    Noun

    aspen

    (plural aspens)
    1. A kind of poplar tree (genus Populus; section Populus).Above a certain elevation, the aspens gave way to scrubby, gnarled pines.
      • Grey Riders|8Instead there were the white of aspens, streaks of branch and slender trunk glistening from the green of leaves, and the darker green of oaks, and through the middle of this forest, from wall to wall, ran a winding line of brilliant green which marked the course of cottonwoods and willows ...
        .
    2. (uncountable) The wood of such a tree.She claimed that aspen was the only "proper" material from which make a wicker basket.
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