Dictionary

Yule tree en · NOUN

Etymology

From Yule + tree.

Meanings

1. A Christmas tree.
   • The house at the end of its black-paved drive was lit up like a Putchkin Yuletree. 2011, Lilith Saintcrow, Dante Valentine:
   • There was no excited whispering among the children of gifts or of Yuletree. 1974, Dorothy Burton Skårdal, The Divided Heart:
   • PINE & FIR TREES–such as Spruce, Hemlock, Douglas and Fraser Fir, Scotch Pine and Cedar–are the most common and are perhaps the most generally known symbols of Yule today, as they are often used as Yule Trees. 2013, Montague Whitsel, The Fires of Yule, page 73:
   • It was from these beliefs that the custom of decorating Yule trees (now popularly known as Christmas trees) evolved. 2022, Edain McCoy, Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways, page 60:
   • The yuletree, a natural product of the forests, has been prevented from full growth, cut or transplanted, then prettified and decorated in a domestic environment, like Nora herself. 1989, Brian Johnston, Text and Supertext in Ibsen’s Drama:
   • Over the forest , over the towns swept the Christmas Angel. He bore folded in his shining robe the little Yule-tree. 1917, The Kindergarten and First Grade, volume 2, page 428:
2. A yuletide decoration comprising a potted tree decorated with ribbons and religious symbols.
   • 2000 Ratatosk Volume 4 issue 4 (Heathen Journal) Yule not Xmas, Red Raven. Those without an outdoor tree can hang gifts indoors on the Yule tree, or go for a walk to the local woods.
   • 1993 The Rites of Odin, Ed Fitch, Llewellyn, →ISBN, page 135. Modern Yule Tree decorations are acceptable for this season, of course, though parents may wish to decorate the Yule tree so that it reflects Yggdrasill, the mythic World-Tree.
   • 1997 Thunder issue 2 (Heathen Journal), The Folk's Noisy Friend, Garman Lord. Then again; what about those Indian shamans whose idea of a quick sure fire way to do a vision quest is to go stand on a mountain outcrop where lightning is about to strike, until they light up like Yule trees with static electricity, jumping off the rock to safety (hopefully) at the last possible moment?

Forms

Hypernyms

tree

Relateds

Yule wreath · Christmas tree