Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ELM, n. [Sax. elm, or ulm-treou; D. olm; G. ulme; Sw. alm or alm-trä, elm-tree; Dan. alm; L. ulmus; Sp. olmo, and alamo; Corn. elau; Russ. ilema, ilma, or ilina. Qu. W. llwyu, a platform, a frame, an elm, from extending.]

A tree. The popular name of all the species of the genus Ulmus, though many of them have other popular names. The treaty which William Penn made with the natives in 1634 was negotiated under a large elm which grew on the spot now called Kensington, just above Philadelphia. It was prostrated by a storm in 1810, at which time its stem measured 24 feet in circumference. Memoirs of Hist. Soc. Penn.