Forms: 1 æspæ, æspe, æps, 1–6 espe, 4–7 aspe, 6 esp, 6– asp. [Common Teut.: with OE. æspæ, æspe, cf. OHG. aspâ, mod.G. espe, OTeut. *aspôn, weak fem. With OE. æps = æsp, cf. ON. ösp (= aspu), OTeut. *aspâ, strong fem. See also ASPEN.]
1. A tree of the poplar family (Populus tremula), with greyish bark and spreading branches, the leaves of which are specially liable to the tremulous motion that characterizes all the poplars. Sometimes loosely used of other poplars.
c. 700. Epinal Gloss., 1006. Tremulus aespae, Erfurt espe … Corpus, 2048. aespe.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gloss. (Zup.), 312. Abies, æps.
c. 1000. Gloss., in Earle, Plant-n., 21. Tremulos, æspe.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2645. And quok as dooth the leefe of aspe [v.r. espe, aspis, aspes] grene.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, 749. The Popler is of three sortes … white … blacke, and the thirde is called Aspe.
1626. Bacon, New Atl. (1650), 27. An Ivy somewhat whiter then ours, like the leafe of a Silver Aspe.
1794. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., xxix. 457. Trembling Poplar, or Asp, has leaves … smooth on both sides.
1848. G. Ruxton, in Blackw. Mag., LXIII. 713. Cherry and quaking asp … belted the little brook.
b. attrib.
a. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 332. Nim æps-rinde.
1548. Turner, Names of Herbes, 64. Populus is of two kyndes, the fyrste … whyte Popler or white Esptree. The seconde … an Asp tree, or a blacke popler.
1616. Surflet & Markh., Countr. Farm, 660. The white Poplar, otherwise called the Aspe tree.
1755. B. Stillingfl., Cal. Flora, in Misc. Tracts (1762), 251. Dec. 23 Asp flower buds begin to open.
2. The wood of this tree.
1551. Turner, Herbal (1568), 66. Flechers make prykke shaftes of byrche because it is heuier than espe is.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., II. i. 54. He commends sound ash for military arrows, and preferred it to asp.
