Back to basics for me.

G'Day Ppl,
What is Wood?
What is Timber?
When is one not the other?
When is one the other?


I hope you know what I mean!!
In one word,
I understand it as:-
Timber was wood which has been milled.

Ivan in Oz:confused:

wood (MATERIAL) noun
1 [C][U] a hard substance which forms the branches and trunks of trees and which can be used as a building material, for making things, or as a fuel:
He gathered some wood to build a fire.
She fixed a couple of planks of wood to the wall for shelves.
Mahogany is a hard wood and pine is a soft wood.
The room was heated by a wood-burning stove.

wood (GROUP OF TREES) noun [C]
an area of land covered with a thick growth of trees:
an oak wood
See also woodland.

wooded adjective
covered with trees:
wooded hills
The police found a vital clue to the girl's disappearance in a wooded area near her home.

woods plural noun
a wood:
We went for a walk in the woods after lunch.

woody adjective
They lived in a remote cottage set high on a woody hillside


2 [C] a type of golf club (= long, thin stick) with a rounded wooden end, used in golf for hitting the ball over long distances:
He likes to use a number 2 wood to tee off.

wood adjective
made of wood:
Solid wood furniture is much more sturdy and durable than chipboard furniture.

We sanded and polished the wood floor in the living room.
Much of the original 18th-century wood panelling was destroyed in the fire.

See also wooden (WOOD).

timber noun
1 [U] trees that are grown so that the wood from them can be used for building:
a timber forest
These trees are being grown for timber.

2 [U] UK (US lumber) wood used for building:
a timber merchant

3 [C] a long piece of wood used for building, especially houses and ships:
roof timbers
a timber-framed building

timber exclamation
shouted when a tree which has been cut is about to fall

wood (MATERIAL)
wood (GROUP OF TREES)
balsa (wood)
dead wood
wood pulp
knock (on) wood
can't see the wood for the trees
touch wood
from the wood
not see the wood for the trees

If it sounds confusing is because it is

A wooden floor is not made out of wood but timber, or is it a timber floor made out of wood . . . . mmm

All I know is, that I know nothing
Socrates

Where does the word "lumber" fit in?
Strictly, and I hate to admit it, the Yank's use of the word lumber for cut and milled wood is probably correct.

Gee and I thought Greek was difficult!
I speak all languages except Greek....problem is tho that they are all Greek to me.

When I first came to Ozz over 15 years ago, I was confused by the use of the term "timber".

In British Columbia where the economy depends primarily on forestry, the term timber tends to refer to trees, as in "a stand of timber".

When cut down, timber becomes logs, and when milled logs become lumber.

The term wood is used at any of these stages, and refers to the material, ie. timber is made of wood.

The reason the loggers don't cry "wood", or "lumber" when they cut down a tree, is obvious.

And a timber-built house in Canada is a "stick-built" house.