Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Cypress"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Cypress
(Heb. tirzah, "hardness"), mentioned only in Isa. 44:14 (R.V.,
"holm tree"). The oldest Latin version translates this word by
ilex, i.e., the evergreen oak, which may possibly have been the
tree intended; but there is great probability that our
Authorized Version is correct in rendering it "cypress." This
tree grows abundantly on the mountains of Hermon. Its wood is
hard and fragrant, and very durable. Its foliage is dark and
gloomy. It is an evergreen (Cupressus sempervirens). "Throughout
the East it is used as a funereal tree; and its dark, tall,
waving plumes render it peculiarly appropriate among the tombs."
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Cypress \Cy"press\ (s?"pr?s), n.; pl. {Cypresses} (-?z). [OE.
cipres, cipresse, OF. cipres, F. cypr?s, L. cupressus,
cyparissus (cf. the usual Lat. form cupressus), fr. Gr. ????,
perh. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. g?pher, Gen. vi. 14.] (Bot)
A coniferous tree of the genus {Cupressus}. The species are
mostly evergreen, and have wood remarkable for its
durability.
Note: Among the trees called cypress are the common Oriental
cypress, {Cupressus sempervirens}, the evergreen
American cypress, {C. thyoides} (now called
{Chamaecyparis sphaeroidea}), and the deciduous
American cypress, {Taxodium distichum}. As having
anciently been used at funerals, and to adorn tombs,
the Oriental species is an emblem of mourning and
sadness.
{Cypress vine} (Bot.), a climbing plant with red or white
flowers ({Ipot[oe]a Quamoclit}, formerly {Quamoclit
vulgaris}).
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
cypress
n 1: wood of any of various cypress trees especially of the genus
Cupressus
2: any of numerous evergreen conifers of the genus Cupressus of
north temperate regions having dark scalelike leaves and
rounded cones [syn: {cypress tree}]
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