Editing Beech (section)

=== Etymology ===
The name of the tree in Latin, ''fagus'' (from whence the [[generic epithet]]), is cognate with English "beech" and of [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]] origin, and played an important role in early debates on the geographical origins of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European people]], the [[beech argument]]. [[Greek language|Greek]] φηγός (figós) is from the same root, but the word was transferred to the oak tree (e.g. Iliad 16.767) as a result of the absence of beech trees in southern [[Greece]].<ref>Robert Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Leiden and Boston 2010, pp. 1565–6</ref>