Timber

n. [A-S. timbor, timber, wood, building, O. Sax. timbar, edifice, O. Fries. timber, edifice, Icel. timbr, beams, Sw. timmer, Dan. tömmer, L. Ger. timmer, wood fit for building, O. D. timmer, fabric, beam, N. D. timmer, an apartment, timmerhout, timber, O. H. Ger. zimbar, wood, edifice, N. H. Ger. zimmer, an apartment, zimmerholz, timber; A-S. timberian, timbran, to build, Goth. timrjan, timbrjan, O. Sax. timbrian, timbron, O. Fries. timbra, timmera, Icel. timbra, Sw. timmra, Dan. tömre, D. timmeren, L. Ger. timmern, O. H. Ger. zimbarōn, M. H. Ger. zimbern, N. H. Ger. zimmern.]

1. That sort of wood which is proper for buildings or for tools, utensils, furniture, carriages, fences, ships, and the like;—usually said of felled trees, but sometimes of those standing.
2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree. Shak.
3. Material for any structure.

Such dispositions . . . are the fittest timber to make politics of. Bacon. 4. A single piece or squared stick of wood for building, or already framed; the larger pieces or sticks of wood, forming the frame-work of a house, ship, or other structure, in distinction from the covering or boarding. Many of the timbers were decayed. Coxe.

5. Woods or forest; wooded land. [Western U. S.]
6. (Naut.) A rib, or a curving piece of wood, branching outward from the keel and bending upward in a vertical direction. One timber is composed of several pieces united in one frame.
7. [Sw. timber, L. Ger. timmer, M. H. Ger. zimber, N. H. Ger. zimmer, Fr. timbre, a bundle of furs, L. Lat. timberum, O. D. timmer, timber, top, apex.] A legal quantity of fur-skins, as of martens, ermines, sables, and the like, being in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty.
8. [Fr., Pr., Sp., & Pg. timbre, D. timmer.] (Her.) A rank or row, as of ermine, in noblemen’s coats; also, a crest. [Written also timbre.]