O — O to Obdurate (Part 2 of 6)

and correctors for the press. "O, I am slain !" Shak. "O what a fair and ministering angel !" "O sweet angel !" Longfellow.

O for a kindling touch from that pure flame !

But she is in her grave, — and oh
The difference to me !

Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness !

We should distinguish between the sign of the vocative and the emotional interjection, writing O for the former, and oh for the latter.

O dear, ∧ O dear me! [corrupted fr. F. O Dieu! or It. O Dio! O God! O Dio mio! O my God! Wyman.], exclamations expressive of various emotions, but usually promoted by surprise, consternation, grief, pain, etc.

Oad
(Oad) n. See Woad. [Obs.] Coles.

Oaf
(Oaf) n. [See Auf.] Originally, an elf's child; a changeling left by fairies or goblins; hence, a deformed or foolish child; a simpleton; an idiot.

Oafish
(Oaf"ish), a. Like an oaf; simple. — Oaf"ish*ness, n.

Oak
(Oak) n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. ac; akin to D. eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.]

1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe, Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few barely reaching the northern parts of South America and Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary rays, forming the silver grain.

2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.

Among the true oaks in America are: Barren oak, or Black-jack, Q. nigra. — Basket oak, Q. Michauxii. — Black oak, Q. tinctoria; — called also yellow or quercitron oak. — Bur oak Q. macrocarpa; — called also over-cup or mossy-cup oak. — Chestnut oak, Q. Prinus and Q. densiflora. — Chinquapin oak Q. prinoides. — Coast live oak, Q. agrifolia, of California; — also called enceno. — Live oak Q. virens, the best of all for shipbuilding; also, Q. Chrysolepis, of California. — Pin oak. Same as Swamp oak. - - Post oak, Q. obtusifolia. — Red oak, Q. rubra. — Scarlet oak, Q. coccinea. — Scrub oak, Q. ilicifolia, Q. undulata, etc. — Shingle oak, Q. imbricaria. — Spanish oak, Q. falcata. — Swamp Spanish oak, or Pin oak, Q. palustris. — Swamp white oak, Q. bicolor. — Water oak, Q. aguatica. — Water white oak, Q. lyrata. — Willow oak, Q. Phellos.

Among the true oaks in Europe are: Bitter oak, or Turkey oak, Q. Cerris (see Cerris). — Cork oak, Q. Suber. — English white oak, Q. Robur. — Evergreen oak, Holly oak, or Holm oak, Q. Ilex. — Kermes oak, Q. coccifera. — Nutgall oak, Q. infectoria.

Among plants called oak, but not of the genus Quercus, are: African oak, a valuable timber tree — Australian, or She, oak, any tree of the genus Casuarina — Indian oak, the teak tree — Jerusalem oak. See under Jerusalem. — New Zealand oak, a sapindaceous tree — Poison oak, the poison ivy. See under Poison. — Silky, or Silk-bark, oak, an Australian tree