Lexical Definition

‎ξύλον‎ xýlon (xoo'-lon) wood ^G:N-N
from another form of the base of ‎ξέστης‎

staff, stocks, tree, wood.

• timber (as fuel or material)
• by implication, a stick, club or tree or other wooden article or substance

Abbott-Smith

ξύλον, -ου, τό, [in LXX chiefly for עֵץ;]
1. wood: I Co 3:12, Re 18:12.
2. a piece of wood, hence, anything made of wood, as,
(a) a cudgel, staff: pl., Mt 26:47, 55, Mk 14:43, 48, Lk 22:52;
(b) stocks, for confining the feet (Jb 33:11, סַד): Ac 16:24;
(c) a beam to which malefactors were bound (late Gk.), in LXX, of a gibbet (De 21:22, 23), in NT, of the Cross: Ac 5:30 10:39 13:29, Ga 3:13, I Pe 2:24.
3. In late writers (v. MM, xvii), a tree (Ge 1:29, Is 14:8, al.): Lk 23:31; ξ. τῆς ζωῆς, Re 2:7 22:2, 14, 19.†

Abbott-Smith References

Liddell-Scott-Jones

ξύλον [ῠ], τό

(plural spelt ξύλεα [Refs 5th c.BC+], wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber, etc., [Refs 8th c.BC+], mostly in plural, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ξ. νήϊα ship-timber, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ξ. τετράγωνα logs cut square, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__2 in plural, also, the wood-market, ἐπὶ ξύλα ἰέναι [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__II in singular, piece of wood, log, beam, post, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ξ. σύκινον spoon made of fig wood, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; peg or lever, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; perch, ἐπὶ ξύλου καθεύδειν [ξύλον 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Fragmenta - American Journal of Philology” 20 ">Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἵπποιο κακὸν ξ., of the Trojan horse, [Refs 6th c.AD+]
__II.2 cudgel, club, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μετὰ ξύλων εἰσπηδῆσαι [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; ξύλοις συντρίψειν [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of the club of Heracles, [Refs 1st c.AD+]
__II.3 an instrument of punishment,
__II.3.a wooden collar, put on the neck of the prisoner, ξύλῳ φιμοῦν τὸν αὐχένα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; or,
__II.3.b stocks, in which the feet were confined, [NT+5th c.BC+]: also in plural, ἔδησεν ἐν τοῖς ξ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__II.3.c πεντεσύριγγον ξύλον (see. entry) was a combination of both, with holes for the neck, arms, and legs, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__II.3.d gallows, κρεμάσαι τινὰ ἐπὶ ξύλου [LXX]; ξ. δίδυμον[LXX] i.e. if one must be hanged, at least let it be on a noble tree, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in NT, of the cross, [NT]
__II.3.e stake on which criminals were impaled, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
__II.4 bench, table, especially money-changer's table, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
__II.5 πρῶτον ξύλον front bench in the Athenian theatre, [Refs 5th c.BC+] the official who had to take care of the seats, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__II.6 the Hippocratic bench, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__III of live wood, tree, [ὄρος] δασὺ πολλοῖς καὶ παντοδαποῖς καὶ μεγάλοις ξύλοις [LXX+5th c.BC+]; εἴρια ἀπὸ ξύλου, of cotton, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
__IV of persons, blockhead, [Refs]; of a stubborn person, σίδηρός τις ἢ ξ. πρὸς τὰς δεήσεις [Refs 3rd c.AD+]
__V a measure oflength, = 3 (also 2 2/3) cubits, the side of the ναύβιον, [Refs 2nd c.BC+] “*Geometry texts” 23.4,11, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

_{LSJ Scripture Refs: Acts.16.24 ☩ LXX.Deut.21.22 ☩ LXX.Josh.8.29 ☩ Acts.5.30 ☩ LXX.Song.2.3}