🌳 A tree species 🌳 A shade tree

white ash

6.3

A North American tree with pale green or silvery leaf undersides and hard brown wood used for furniture

noun
/waɪt æʃ/

: fresno blanco

The furniture was crafted from white ash for both its beauty and durability.

Examples

The white ash tree provides excellent shade in the summer.
Botanists are concerned about the decline of white ash due to invasive beetles.
A row of white ash trees lined the street, providing plenty of shade in the summer.
Many birds nest in the white ash branches.
The carpenter prefers using white ash for furniture because of its durability and beauty.
In the wooded area, we saw several tall white ash trees standing proudly among the oaks.
Many baseball bats are crafted from white ash wood due to its ability to withstand strong impacts.

Synonyms

Fraxinus americana

vswhite ash

Specialized

9.6

A large tree from eastern North America with pale undersides on its leaves and hard brown wood

is the common English name used in everyday or field contexts

Surface Forms

white ash singular

white ashes plural

Morphology

white + ash

The meaning is directly built from 'white' (pale, light-colored) + 'ash' (the Fraxinus tree), indicating a type of ash tree with a pale/silvery aspect. This is a straightforward descriptive compound following normal English noun-compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the intended botanical sense.

Etymology

White ash was named for the tree's pale parts: the underside of its leaves is silvery and the wood is light in colour. Because these parts look 'white', people called the North American tree a white ash, and that is why the name now refers to this tree and its wood.