lumber

English

A stack of wooden lumber

Etymology

Exact origin unknown. The earliest recorded reference was to heavy, useless objects such as old, discarded furniture. Perhaps from the verb lumber in reference to meaning "awkward to move". Possibly influenced by Lumbar, an obsolete variant of Lombard, the Italian immigrant class known for being pawnbrokers and money-lenders in early England.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lŭmʹbə IPA^(key): /ˈlʌm.bə/
• (US) enPR: lŭmʹbər IPA^(key): /ˈlʌm.bɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmbə(r)

Noun

lumber (usually uncountable, plural lumbers)

1. (Canada, US, uncountable) Wood intended as a building material.
   • 1782, H. de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer

     Here they live by fishing on the most plentiful coasts in the world; there they fell trees, by the sides of large rivers, for masts and lumber;

   • 1883, Chester A. Arthur, Third State of the Union Address (4 December 1883).

     The resources of Alaska, especially in fur, mines, and lumber, are considerable in extent and capable of large development, while its geographical situation is one of political and commercial importance.;

2. (Britain) Useless things that are stored away.
   • 1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

     The bookful blockhead ignorantly read, / With loads of learned lumber in his head, […]

3. (obsolete) A pawnbroker's shop, or room for storing articles put in pawn; hence, a pledge, or pawn.
   • (Can we date this quote by Lady Murray and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     They put all the little plate they had in the lumber, which is pawning it, till the ships came.

4. (baseball, slang) A baseball bat.

Synonyms

• timber
• wood

Translations

wood as building material

• Arabic: خَشَب‎ (ar) m (ḵašab)
• Bulgarian: дърво́ (bg) n (dǎrvó), дървен материа́л m (dǎrven materiál)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 木料 (zh) (mùliào), 木材 (zh) (mùcái)

• Czech: řezivo n (uncountable)
• Dutch: timmerhout (nl) n
• Finnish: puutavara (fi)
• French: bois de charpente m
• Galician: madeira serrada f
• German: Bauholz (de) n
• Greek: ξυλεία (el) f (xyleía)
• Hungarian: épületfa (hu)
• Irish: crainn leagtha m pl
• Italian: legname (it) m
• Japanese: 材木 (ja) (ざいもく, zaimoku), 木材 (ja) (もくざい, mokuzai)

• Korean: 제목 (ko) (jemok) (材木 (ko))
• Latin: tignum n
• Lithuanian: mediena f
• Persian: الوار‎ (fa) (alvâr), لاپه‎ (fa) (lâpe)
• Portuguese: madeira serrada f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: пиломатериа́лы (ru) m pl (pilomateriály), древеси́на (ru) f (drevesína), лесоматериа́л (ru) m (lesomateriál), де́рево (ru) n (dérevo), деревоматериа́л m (derevomateriál)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: drjewo n

• Spanish: madera aserrada f
• Swedish: virke (sv) n
• Tagalog: kalap
• Turkish: kereste (tr)
• Westrobothnian: velk n, viltj n, väärk n

Verb

lumber (third-person singular simple present lumbers, present participle lumbering, simple past and past participle lumbered)

1. (intransitive) To move clumsily and heavily; to move slowly.
   • 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary

     ...he was only apprized of the arrival of the Monkbarns division by the gee-hupping of the postilion, as the post-chaise lumbered up behind him.

   • 2002, Russell Allen, "Incantations of the Apprentice", on Symphony X, The Odyssey.

     Through eerie reach of ancient woods / Where lumbering mists arise / I journey for nines moons of the year / To where a land of legend lies

2. (transitive, with with) To load down with things, to fill, to encumber, to impose an unwanted burden on

   They’ve lumbered me with all these suitcases.

   I got lumbered with that boring woman all afternoon.

   • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Peveril of the Peak. [...] In Four Volumes, volume II, Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., OCLC 2392685, page 278:

     The mean utensils, pewter measures, empty cans and casks, with which this room was lumbered, proclaimed it that of the host, who slept, surrounded by his professional implements of hospitality and stock in trade.

3. To heap together in disorder.
   • (Can we date this quote by Rymer and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     stuff lumbered together

4. To fill or encumber with lumber.

   to lumber up a room

Related terms

• lumbering
• lumberingness

Translations

To move clumsily and heavily.

• Bulgarian: движа се тромаво (dviža se tromavo)
• Italian: arrancare (it)

To load down with things, to fill.

• Bulgarian: натрупвам (bg) (natrupvam)

To encumber, to impose an unwanted burden on.

• Bulgarian: натоварвам (bg) (natovarvam)

To heap together in disorder.

To fill or encumber with lumber.

Anagrams

• Blumer, Bulmer, Rumble, rumble, umbrel