Yule tree

English

Alternative forms

• Yuletree, Yule-tree, yuletree

Etymology

From Yule +‎ tree.

Noun

Yule tree (plural Yule trees)

1. A Christmas tree.
   • 1917, The Kindergarten and First Grade, volume 2, page 428:

     Over the forest , over the towns swept the Christmas Angel. He bore folded in his shining robe the little Yule-tree.

   • 1974, Dorothy Burton Skårdal, The Divided Heart:

     There was no excited whispering among the children of gifts or of Yuletree.

   • 1989, Brian Johnston, Text and Supertext in Ibsen’s Drama:

     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.

   • 2011, Lilith Saintcrow, Dante Valentine:

     The house at the end of its black-paved drive was lit up like a Putchkin Yuletree.

   • 2013, Montague Whitsel, The Fires of Yule, page 73:

     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.

   • 2022, Edain McCoy, Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways, page 60:

     It was from these beliefs that the custom of decorating Yule trees (now popularly known as Christmas trees) evolved.

2. (chiefly paganism) A yuletide decoration comprising a potted tree decorated with ribbons and religious symbols.
   • 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?

   • 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.

Hypernyms

• tree

See also

• Christmas tree
• Yule wreath

Anagrams

• eurytele