Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - yew

 noun  Etymology: Middle English ew, from Old English iw; akin to Old High German iwa ~, Middle Irish eo  Date: before 12th century  1.  a. any of a genus (Taxus of the family Taxaceae, the ~ family) of evergreen gymnospermous trees and shrubs with stiff linear leaves and seeds surrounded by a fleshy red aril: as  (1) a long-lived Eurasian tree or shrub (T. baccata) — called also English ~  (2) a low straggling bush (T. canadensis) of the eastern United States and Canada  (3) Pacific ~  b. the wood of a ~; especially the heavy fine-grained wood of the English ~  2. archaic an archery bow made of ~