DictionaryAI

arbor

noun
AHR-bur/ˈɑɹbɚ/UKAH-buh/ˈɑːbə/

Pluralarbors, arbores

UK spellingarbour

2 meanings of arbor

Practice

  1. 1
    garden shelternouncountable
    A shady sitting place or pergola, usually in a park or garden, enclosed by climbing shrubs, vines or other plants.

    We ate lunch in the shade of the grape arbor behind the farmhouse.

    The park's rose arbors each have a bench where visitors can rest out of the sun.

    UsageOften named for what climbs over it: grape arbor, rose arbor; the British spelling is arbour.

    Similarbower, pergola

    Note

    The word grew from grass, not trees: it came through Old French erbier, a meadow or kitchen garden, from Latin herba, "grass, herb", and only its spelling was pulled toward Latin arbor, "tree". British English spells it arbour, as in J.G. Ballard's "arbours of orchids and gourds" (1979).

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • The garden word derives through Old French erbier, meaning meadow or kitchen garden, from Latin herba, meaning grass or herb. en.wiktionary.org
    • Latin arbor, meaning tree, influenced the spelling rather than supplying the word's origin. en.wiktionary.org
    • Arbour is the British spelling. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in J. G. Ballard's The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 24. en.wiktionary.org
    • The work containing the quotation was first published in 1979. en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2
    wheel axlenouncountable
    A shaft, spindle, or axle in a machine that holds a turning part, such as a wheel, a cutting tool, or work on a lathe.

    Each gear in the old clock is pressed onto its own steel arbor.

    The grinding wheel had worked loose on its arbor and wobbled as it spun.

    Similarspindle, shaft, axle, mandrel

Practice

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Origins

Meaning 1

Latin herba ("grass, herb"), which also gave English herb, became Old French erbe ("grass, herb"). From this came erbier ("field, meadow, kitchen garden"), and then Middle English arbour, erbour. Latin arbor ("tree") shaped the spelling.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Meaning 2

The word was borrowed from the French arbre, meaning "tree, axis." Latin arbor, "tree," affected how English spells it.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts