English▸ noun (also yew tree) a coniferous tree which has red berrylike fruits, and most parts of which are highly poisonous. Yews are linked with folklore and superstition and can live to a great age; the timber is used in cabinetmaking and (formerly) to make longbows.
Genus Taxus, family Taxaceae: several species, in particular T. baccata of Europe.
– ORIGIN Old English īw, ēow, of Germanic origin.