# yew

> English word · Noun · IPA /juː/ · frequency rank #28,095

## Definitions
1. A species of coniferous tree, Taxus baccata, with dark-green flat needle-like leaves and seeds bearing red arils, native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia.
2. Any tree or shrub of the genus Taxus.
3. Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus:
4. Other conifers resembling plants in genus Taxus:
5. The wood of such trees.
6. A bow for archery, made of yew wood.

## Etymology
From Middle English ew, from Old English īw, ēow, [both cognates of Welsh yw (“yews”), Irish eo, Old Irish eó respectively]; although the Old English form was conjectured to be from Proto-West Germanic *īhu, from Proto-Germanic *īhwaz (compare Icelandic ýr), masculine variant of *īwō (compare Dutch ijf, German Eibe), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyHw-.
See also Hittite 𒄑𒂊𒅀𒀭 (eyan, “type of evergreen”), Latgalian īva (“bird cherry”), Lithuanian ievà (“bird cherry”), Russian и́ва (íva, “willow”).

## Easily confused with
- **yo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yo)
- **yu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yu)
- **yr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yr)
- **Yi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yi)
- **yt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yt)
- **Ys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-ys)
- **YG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yg)
- **YP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yp)
- **you** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-you)
- **yup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yup)
- **yrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yrs)
- **yoo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yoo)
- **yum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yum)
- **yin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yin)
- **Yun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yun)
- **yon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yon)
- **yip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yip)
- **yue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yue)
- **Yui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yui)
- **yow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/yew-vs-yow)

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