Meanings
elm1
plural elms · alternative pronunciation spelling ellum
- countableA tree of the genus Ulmus of the family Ulmaceae, large deciduous trees with alternate stipulate leaves and small apetalous flowers.
The village is a dignified place of thatch, half-timbering, box hedges and neat farms, set among elms (though not as many as formerly, since Dutch elm disease took its toll) on the level plain of the Pewsey Vale.
1980, AA Book of English Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 671 more example
It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLCSynonyms: elven
- attributiveoftenuncountableWood from an elm tree.
English soldiers handled sturdy bows of yew, ash, or elm, which could propel an iron-tipped arrow as far as a hundred yards.
1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 155
Elm2
- A village and civil parish in Fenland district, Cambridgeshire, England (OS grid ref TF4706).
- A village in Glarus canton, Switzerland.
- A surname.
- computer languagesA functional programming language for creating web applications.
Elm as a language can be seen from different angles. The main purpose of the language and the platform is to create web applications.
2018, Wolfgang Loder, Web Applications with Elm […] , Apress, →ISBN, page 42
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tree of the genus Ulmus of the family Ulmaceae, large deciduous trees with alternate stipulate leaves and small apetalous flowers.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany of various trees of the genus Ulmus: important timber or shade trees
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁élem“mountain elm”
- Proto-Germanic*elmaz
- Proto-West Germanic*elm
- Old Englishelm
- Middle Englishelme
- Englishelm
From Middle English elme, elm, from Old English elm, from Proto-West Germanic *elm, from Proto-Germanic *elmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁élem (“mountain elm”). See also dialectal Low German Elm, dialectal German Ilm, archaic German Ilme, Norwegian and Swedish alm; also Irish leamh, Latin ulmus, Albanian ulzë (“maple”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πτελέα
- πτελέα (pteléa)tree of genus Ulmus
Arabic دَرْدَار, بُوقِيصَا
- دَرْدَار (dardār)tree of genus Ulmus
- بُوقِيصَا (būqīṣā)tree of genus Ulmus
Basque zumar
- zumartree of genus Ulmus
Bulgarian бряст
- бряст (brjast)tree of genus Ulmus
Catalan om
- omtree of genus Ulmus
Chinese Mandarin 榆木, 榆樹 /榆树
- 榆木 (yúmù)tree of genus Ulmus
- 榆樹 /榆树 (yúshù)tree of genus Ulmus
Czech jilm
- jilmtree of genus Ulmus
Danish elm, elmetræ
- elmtree of genus Ulmus
- elmetrætree of genus Ulmus
Dutch olm, iep
- olmtree of genus Ulmus
- ieptree of genus Ulmus
Esperanto ulmo
- ulmotree of genus Ulmus
Estonian jalakas
- jalakastree of genus Ulmus
Finnish jalava
- jalavatree of genus Ulmus
French orme
- ormetree of genus Ulmus
German Ulme
- Ulmetree of genus Ulmus
Greek λεύκα, φτελιά
- λεύκα (léfka)tree of genus Ulmus
- φτελιά (fteliá)tree of genus Ulmus
- καραγάτσι (karagátsi)tree of genus Ulmus
Hebrew בוקיצה, אולמוס
- בוקיצהtree of genus Ulmus
- אולמוסtree of genus Ulmus
Hungarian szil, szilfa
- sziltree of genus Ulmus
- szilfatree of genus Ulmus
Icelandic álmur
- álmurtree of genus Ulmus
Irish leamhán
- leamhántree of genus Ulmus
Italian olmo
- olmotree of genus Ulmus
Japanese 楡, ニレ
- 楡 (nire)tree of genus Ulmus
- ニレ (nire)tree of genus Ulmus
Korean 느릅나무
- 느릅나무 (neureumnamu)tree of genus Ulmus
Latin ulmus
- ulmustree of genus Ulmus
Latvian goba, vīksna
- gobatree of genus Ulmus
- vīksnatree of genus Ulmus
Lithuanian guoba, vinkšna
- guobatree of genus Ulmus
- vinkšnatree of genus Ulmus
- skirpstastree of genus Ulmus
Malay elm
- elmtree of genus Ulmus
Māori erema
- erematree of genus Ulmus
Norwegian Bokmål alm, almetre
- almtree of genus Ulmus
- almetretree of genus Ulmus
Persian نارون
- نارون (nârvan)tree of genus Ulmus
Polish wiąz
- wiąztree of genus Ulmus
Portuguese ulmeiro, olmo
- ulmeirotree of genus Ulmus
- olmotree of genus Ulmus
Romanian ulm
- ulmtree of genus Ulmus
Russian вяз, ильм
- вяз (ulmus)tree of genus Ulmus
- ильм (ilʹm)tree of genus Ulmus
- бе́рест (bérest)tree of genus Ulmus
Scottish Gaelic ailm, leamhan
- ailmtree of genus Ulmus
- leamhantree of genus Ulmus
Slovak brest
- bresttree of genus Ulmus
Spanish olmo
- olmotree of genus Ulmus
Swedish alm
- almtree of genus Ulmus
Tagalog olmo
- olmotree of genus Ulmus
Turkish karaağaç
- karaağaçtree of genus Ulmus
Ukrainian в'яз
- в'яз (vʺjaz)tree of genus Ulmus
Welsh llwyf
- llwyftree of genus Ulmus
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with elm
Anagrams
Cite this entry
elm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elm
“elm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elm.
Source: elm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.