# arbor

Pronunciation: US say "AHR-bur" /ˈɑɹbɚ/; UK say "AH-buh" /ˈɑːbə/

## Noun

1. A shady sitting place or pergola, usually in a park or garden, enclosed by climbing shrubs, vines or other plants.
   - Simple: A shady place to sit in a garden or park, with climbing plants growing all around it.
   - _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._
2. 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.
   - Simple: A metal rod in a machine that holds something that turns, like a wheel, blade, or tool.
   - _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._

## Origin

**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.
**Meaning 2** — The word was borrowed from the French arbre, meaning "tree, axis." Latin arbor, "tree," affected how English spells it.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/arbor (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).