Timber

Timber is the term common in the United States and Canada for unprocessed wood, or in other countries for processed wood called lumber in the United States and Canada. Lumber (also known as timber) is wood in any of its stages from felling to readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production. The definition of the word lumber as sawn planks of wood originated in the 17th century in North America.

Lumber is supplied either rough or finished.

Besides pulpwood, rough lumber is the raw material for furniture-making and other items requiring additional cutting and shaping.

Finished lumber is supplied in standard sizes, mostly for the construction industry, primarily softwood from coniferous species including pine, fir and spruce, cedar, and hemlock, but also some hardwood, for high-grade flooring.

For much of the past several thousand years of human history, lumber was essential to the construction of vessels and vehicles.