# timber

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɪmbə/ · frequency rank #7,072

## Definitions
1. Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood.
2. Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction.
3. A heavy wooden beam, generally a whole log that has been squared off and used to provide heavy support for something such as a roof.
4. Material for any structure.
5. The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.
6. A certain quantity of fur skins (as of martens, ermines, sables, etc.) packed between boards; in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty. Also timmer, timbre.
7. The stumps.

## Etymology
From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-West Germanic *timr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm).
Cognates include Dutch timmer, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Norwegian tømmer, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), Latin domus and Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos).

## Easily confused with
- **time** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-time)
- **times** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-times)
- **timer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-timer)
- **Timor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-timor)
- **tuber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tuber)
- **tumblr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tumblr)
- **tinder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tinder)
- **tinker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tinker)
- **timbre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-timbre)
- **tipper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tipper)
- **Timbers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-timbers)
- **tumbler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-tumbler)
- **trimmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/timber-vs-trimmer)
- **tier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tier-vs-timber)
- **tiger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tiger-vs-timber)
- **Tibet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tibet-vs-timber)
- **tamer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tamer-vs-timber)
- **Tiber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tiber-vs-timber)
- **temper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/temper-vs-timber)
- **ticker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ticker-vs-timber)

## Common misspellings (8)
`itmber`, `tibmer`, `timbber`, `timberr`, `timebr`, `timmber`, `tmiber`, `ttimber`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/timber