corkboard
UK[ˈkɔːkbɔːd]US[ˈkɔːrkbɔːrd]
n
A board made of cork, used especially for displaying notices by pinning them on.
Morpheme Breakdown
cork
board
cork
material
board
flat piece
Etymology
The word 'corkboard' is a transparent Modern English compound, directly combining the names of its material and its form. 'Cork' originates from the Latin name for the oak tree, quercus, which narrowed in Iberian Romance to refer specifically to the cork oak and its bark. 'Board' descends from a Proto-Germanic root meaning a flat piece of wood. The compound logically describes a panel manufactured from the lightweight, porous bark of the cork oak, a material whose pin-receptive quality made it ideal for the 20th-century innovation of a notice board.
Analysis
Structure: cork (material) + board (flat piece)
- cork: From Latin quercus (oak tree), via Spanish/Portuguese corcho (cork oak, cork). In this compound, it denotes the specific material.
- board: From Old English bord (plank, flat surface). In this compound, it denotes a flat, rigid sheet or panel.
Examples
She pinned the meeting agenda to the office corkboard.
The teacher used a corkboard in the classroom to display students' artwork.
We need a new corkboard for the kitchen to hold recipes and reminders.