ˈkwərkəs noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, oak — more at fir
: a genus of hardwood often evergreen trees or shrubs (family Fagaceae) comprising the typical oaks and being widely distributed in the northern hemisphere but most abundant in temperate regions, having alternate linear to elliptical entire or variously lobed leaves, drooping staminate catkins, and pistillate flowers that are solitary in each involucre and succeeded in fruit by a characteristic acorn — see cork oak , live oak , white oak ; lithocarpus ; compare fagus