Timber is wood that's been cut and prepared for building. When trees are harvested from a forest, they're sawed into beams, planks, and boards that builders use to construct houses, barns, bridges, and furniture.

For thousands of years, timber was humanity's primary building material. Medieval buildings often had timber roofs and floors. Colonial Americans built many towns from timber. Even today, most houses in America have timber frames hidden inside their walls, and many homes feature beautiful timber floors, stairs, and trim.

The word also appears as a warning shout: “Timber!” When loggers finish cutting through a tree trunk, they yell this to alert everyone nearby that the tree is about to fall. You might hear it in old cartoons or movies about logging camps. The shout gives people time to move to safety before tons of wood come crashing down.

Timberland refers to forested areas where trees are grown and harvested for timber. Some timber operations plant new trees to replace those they harvest, helping ensure future generations will have both forests and building materials.