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Added 7 October 2026

beam

/ˈbiːm/ noun

In Latin: trabs, tignum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about beam at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of steel, timber, or concrete, of a building.
One of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid, and acting as part of the support for keeping the sides of the vessel in shape — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones; cf. abeam, beam-ends.

verb

To emit beams of light; to shine; to radiate.
to beam forth light
To smile broadly or especially cheerfully.
to beam with pride
To furnish or supply with beams.

Origin

From Middle English bem, beem, from Old English bēam (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, swell”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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