What is "tree of life"

Tree \Tree\ (tr[=e]), n. [OE. tree, tre, treo, AS. tre['o], tre['o]w, tree, wood; akin to OFries. tr[=e], OS. treo, trio, Icel. tr[=e], Dan. tr[ae], Sw. tr["a], tr["a]d, Goth. triu, Russ. drevo, W. derw an oak, Ir. darag, darog, Gr. dry^s a tree, oak, do`ry a beam, spear shaft, spear, Skr. dru tree, wood, d[=a]ru wood. [root]63, 24

1. Cf. Dryad, Germander, Tar, n., Trough.] 1. (Bot.) Any perennial woody plant of considerable size (usually over twenty feet high) and growing with a single trunk.

   Note: The kind of tree referred to, in any particular case, is often indicated by a modifying word; as forest tree, fruit tree, palm tree, apple tree, pear tree, etc.

2. Something constructed in the form of, or considered as resembling, a tree, consisting of a stem, or stock, and branches; as, a genealogical tree.

3. A piece of timber, or something commonly made of timber; -- used in composition, as in axletree, boottree, chesstree, crosstree, whiffletree, and the like.

4. A cross or gallows; as Tyburn tree.

   [Jesus] whom they slew and hanged on a tree.
   --Acts x. 39.

5. Wood; timber. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   In a great house ben not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of tree and of earth.
   --Wyclif (2 Tim. ii. 20).

6. (Chem.) A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal from solution. See Lead tree, under Lead. Tree bear (Zo["o]l.), the raccoon. [Local, U. S.] Tree beetle (Zo["o]l.) any one of numerous species of beetles which feed on the leaves of trees and shrubs, as the May beetles, the rose beetle, the rose chafer, and the goldsmith beetle. Tree bug (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of hemipterous insects which live upon, and suck the sap of, trees and shrubs. They belong to Arma, Pentatoma, Rhaphigaster, and allied genera. Tree cat (Zool.), the common paradoxure ( Paradoxurus musang). Tree clover (Bot.), a tall kind of melilot ( Melilotus alba). See Melilot. Tree crab (Zo["o]l.), the purse crab. See under Purse. Tree creeper (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of arboreal creepers belonging to Certhia, Climacteris, and allied genera. See Creeper, 3. Tree cricket (Zo["o]l.), a nearly white arboreal American cricket ( Ecanthus niv[oe]us) which is noted for its loud stridulation; -- called also white cricket. Tree crow (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of Old World crows belonging to Crypsirhina and allied genera, intermediate between the true crows and the jays. The tail is long, and the bill is curved and without a tooth. Tree dove (Zo["o]l.) any one of several species of East Indian and Asiatic doves belonging to Macropygia and allied genera. They have long and broad tails, are chiefly arboreal in their habits, and feed mainly on fruit. Tree duck (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of ducks belonging to Dendrocygna and allied genera. These ducks have a long and slender neck and a long hind toe. They are arboreal in their habits, and are found in the tropical parts of America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Tree fern (Bot.), an arborescent fern having a straight trunk, sometimes twenty or twenty-five feet high, or even higher, and bearing a cluster of fronds at the top. Most of the existing species are tropical. Tree fish (Zo["o]l.), a California market fish ( Sebastichthys serriceps). Tree frog. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. Same as Tree toad.

   2. Any one of numerous species of Old World frogs belonging to Chiromantis, Rhacophorus, and allied genera of the family Ranid[ae]. Their toes are furnished with suckers for adhesion. The flying frog (see under Flying) is an example. Tree goose (Zo["o]l.), the bernicle goose. Tree hopper (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of small leaping hemipterous insects which live chiefly on the branches and twigs of trees, and injure them by sucking the sap. Many of them are very odd in shape, the prothorax being often prolonged upward or forward in the form of a spine or crest. Tree jobber (Zo["o]l.), a woodpecker. [Obs.] Tree kangaroo. (Zo["o]l.) See Kangaroo. Tree lark (Zo["o]l.), the tree pipit. [Prov. Eng.] Tree lizard (Zo["o]l.), any one of a group of Old World arboreal lizards ( Dendrosauria) comprising the chameleons. Tree lobster. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Tree crab, above. Tree louse (Zo["o]l.), any aphid; a plant louse. Tree moss. (Bot.)

      1. Any moss or lichen growing on trees.

      2. Any species of moss in the form of a miniature tree.

         Tree mouse (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of African mice of the subfamily Dendromyin[ae]. They have long claws and habitually live in trees.

         Tree nymph, a wood nymph. See Dryad.

         Tree of a saddle, a saddle frame.

         Tree of heaven (Bot.), an ornamental tree ( Ailantus glandulosus) having long, handsome pinnate leaves, and greenish flowers of a disagreeable odor.

         Tree of life (Bot.), a tree of the genus Thuja; arbor vit[ae].

         Tree onion (Bot.), a species of garlic ( Allium proliferum) which produces bulbs in place of flowers, or among its flowers.

         Tree oyster (Zo["o]l.), a small American oyster ( Ostrea folium) which adheres to the roots of the mangrove tree; -- called also raccoon oyster.

         Tree pie (Zo["o]l.), any species of Asiatic birds of the genus Dendrocitta. The tree pies are allied to the magpie.

         Tree pigeon (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of longwinged arboreal pigeons native of Asia, Africa, and Australia, and belonging to Megaloprepia, Carpophaga, and allied genera.

         Tree pipit. (Zo["o]l.) See under Pipit.

         Tree porcupine (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of Central and South American arboreal porcupines belonging to the genera Ch[ae]tomys and Sphingurus. They have an elongated and somewhat prehensile tail, only four toes on the hind feet, and a body covered with short spines mixed with bristles. One South American species ( Sphingurus villosus) is called also couiy; another ( Sphingurus prehensilis) is called also c[oe]ndou.

         Tree rat (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large ratlike West Indian rodents belonging to the genera Capromys and Plagiodon. They are allied to the porcupines.

         Tree serpent (Zo["o]l.), a tree snake.

         Tree shrike (Zo["o]l.), a bush shrike.

         Tree snake (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of snakes of the genus Dendrophis. They live chiefly among the branches of trees, and are not venomous.

         Tree sorrel (Bot.), a kind of sorrel ( Rumex Lunaria) which attains the stature of a small tree, and bears greenish flowers. It is found in the Canary Islands and Tenerife.

         Tree sparrow (Zo["o]l.) any one of several species of small arboreal sparrows, especially the American tree sparrow ( Spizella monticola), and the common European species ( Passer montanus).

         Tree swallow (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of swallows of the genus Hylochelidon which lay their eggs in holes in dead trees. They inhabit Australia and adjacent regions. Called also martin in Australia.

         Tree swift (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of swifts of the genus Dendrochelidon which inhabit the East Indies and Southern Asia.

         Tree tiger (Zo["o]l.), a leopard.

         Tree toad (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of amphibians belonging to Hyla and allied genera of the family Hylid[ae]. They are related to the common frogs and toads, but have the tips of the toes expanded into suckers by means of which they cling to the bark and leaves of trees. Only one species ( Hyla arborea) is found in Europe, but numerous species occur in America and Australia. The common tree toad of the Northern United States ( Hyla versicolor) is noted for the facility with which it changes its colors. Called also tree frog. See also Piping frog, under Piping, and Cricket frog, under Cricket.

         Tree warbler (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of arboreal warblers belonging to Phylloscopus and allied genera.

         Tree wool (Bot.), a fine fiber obtained from the leaves of pine trees.

The concept of a tree of life is a widespread mytheme or archetype in the world's mythologies, related to the concept of sacred tree more generally, and hence in religious and philosophical tradition.

The expression Tree of Life was used as a metaphor for the phylogenetic tree of common descent in the evolutionary sense in a famous passage by Charles Darwin (1872).

The tree of knowledge, connecting to heaven and the underworld, and the tree of life, connecting all forms of creation, are both forms of the world tree or cosmic tree, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, and are portrayed in various religions and philosophies as the same tree.

The tree of life (, Standard ) is a term used in the Hebrew Bible that is a component of the world tree motif.

In the Book of Genesis, the tree of life is first described in as being planted with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil "in the midst of the Garden of Eden" by Yahweh Elohim . In cherubim guard the way to the tree of life at the east end of the Garden. The tree of life has become the subject of some debate as to whether or not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the same tree.

Outside of Genesis, the term "tree of life" appears 11 times in the Bible in Proverbs, 2 Esdras, 4 Maccabees, and Revelation.

The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim (עץ החיים) in Hebrew, is a classic descriptive term for the central mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism, also known as the 10 Sephirot. Its diagrammatic representation, arranged in 3 columns/pillars, derives from Christian and esoteric sources and is not known to the earlier Jewish tradition. The tree, visually or conceptually, represents as a series of divine emanations God's creation itself ex nihilo, the nature of revealed divinity, the human soul, and the spiritual path of ascent by man. In this way, Kabbalists developed the symbol into a full model of reality, using the tree to depict a map of Creation.

The symbolic configuration of 10 spiritual principles (11 can be shown, of which - Keter and Da'at are interchangeable),

Jewish Kabbalah usually refers to the symbol as the 10 Sephirot, while non-Jewish Christian Cabala and Hermetic Qabalah generally terms it universally as the Cabalistic/Qabalistic Tree of Life. This metaphor derives from Judaic Kabbalah, though is understood less universally. In the Jewish Kabbalist view, both of the two trees in the Biblical Garden of Eden, the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life were alternative perspectives of the Sephirot: the full array of 10 as seen respectively from the last Sephirah Malkuth, and the middle Sephirah Tiferet.

From the Renaissance onwards, the Jewish mystical concept was adopted by some esoterically inclined Christians as well as some Hermeticists. Among the Christian Cabalists, the sephirot were also called Dignities, referred to by Latin, instead of Hebrew, names. Christian Cabala also places emphasis on Christ as Sustainer and Preserver of the Universe, and the Malkuth of Jewish Kabbalah is absent, as it is considered of a different order-of-being. Hermetic Qabalah's use of the Tree continues as a contemporary Western esotericism tradition, with alternative Esoteric Christian and Occultist emphases.

The tree of life is a motif in various mythologies and a metaphor for the common descent of life on Earth.

Tree of life may also refer to:

The Tree of Life is a sculpture created by four artists in Mozambique. It was commissioned and then installed in the British Museum in 2005. It was built from the surrender of 600,000 weapons that were converted into art following an initiative started by Bishop Dinis Sengulane.

Tree of Life is a public artwork by American artist Nancy Metz White, located at the north end of Mitchell Boulevard Park, a Milwaukee County Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is located near Miller Park. Unveiled in 2002, Tree of Life is constructed out of recycled steel from industry processes. It stands 2½ stories tall, and is brightly painted. White intended for the sculpture to become a place for Milwaukee locals to gather and forge new community ties.

The Tree of Immortality (Arabic: شجرة الخلود) is the tree of life motif as it appears in the Quran. It is also alluded to in hadiths and tafsir. Unlike the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, also called the tree of immortality, which Allah specifically forbade to Adam and Eve. Satan, disguised as a serpent, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, thus disobeying Allah. The hadiths however speak about other trees in heaven.

Tree of Life: A Novel of the Caribbean is a 1992 novel by the Guadeloupean writer, Maryse Condé. The novel tells a multigenerational story about the emergence of the West Indian middle class.

The Tree of Life is a wooden tree, and has served as the icon of Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort since it debuted with the park on April 22, 1998. Inspired by the mythical tree of the same name, the Tree of Life features 325 carvings of existing and extinct animal species on its trunk and surrounding roots.

Engineered from a refitted oil platform and based on the natural forms of baobob trees, the Tree of Life is located on Discovery Island, roughly in the center of the park. Its leaves are made out of kynar. At the structure's interior base is a 400-seat theater that hosts It's Tough to be a Bug!, a 4-D film attraction based on A Bug's Life.

The tree of life is a metaphor used to describe the relationships between organisms, both living and extinct, as described in a famous passage in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859).

Tree-diagrams originated in the medieval era to represent genealogical relationships.

Phylogenetic tree diagrams in the evolutionary sense date back to at least the early 19th century.

The term phylogeny for the evolutionary relationships of species through time was coined by Ernst Haeckel, who went further than Darwin in proposing phylogenic histories of life. In contemporary usage, tree of life refers to the compilation of comprehensive phylogenetic database rooted at the last universal ancestor of life on Earth. The Open Tree of Life, first published 2015, is a project to compile such a database for free public access.

A Tree of Life is a theme of clay sculpture created in central Mexico, especially in the municipality of Metepec, State of Mexico. The image depicted in these sculptures originally was for the teaching of the Biblical story of creation to natives in the early colonial period. The fashioning of the trees in a clay sculpture began in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla but today the craft is most closely identified with Metepec. Traditionally, these sculptures are supposed to consist of certain biblical images, such as Adam and Eve, but recently there have been trees created with themes completely unrelated to the Bible.