Easton's Bible Dictionary

A symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors (Ezek. 17:3, 10; Dan. 11:7); of prosperity (Job 8:16); of the Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), the "beautiful branch" (4:2), a "righteous branch" (Jeremiah 23:5), "the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8; 6:12).

Disciples are branches of the true vine (John 15:5, 6). "The branch of the terrible ones" (Isaiah 25:5) is rightly translated in the Revised Version "the song of the terrible ones," i.e., the song of victory shall be brought low by the destruction of Babylon and the return of the Jews from captivity.

The "abominable branch" is a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged (Isaiah 14:19). The "highest branch" in Ezek. 17:3 represents Jehoiakim the king.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A shoot or secondary stem growing from the main stem, or from a principal limb or bough of a tree or other plant.

2. (n.) Any division extending like a branch; any arm or part connected with the main body of thing; ramification; as, the branch of an antler; the branch of a chandelier; a branch of a river; a branch of a railway.

3. (n.) Any member or part of a body or system; a distinct article; a section or subdivision; a department.

4. (n.) One of the portions of a curve that extends outwards to an indefinitely great distance; as, the branches of an hyperbola.

5. (n.) A line of family descent, in distinction from some other line or lines from the same stock; any descendant in such a line; as, the English branch of a family.

6. (n.) A warrant or commission given to a pilot, authorizing him to pilot vessels in certain waters.

7. (a.) Diverging from, or tributary to, a main stock, line, way, theme, etc.; as, a branch vein; a branch road or line; a branch topic; a branch store.

8. (v. i.) To shoot or spread in branches; to separate into branches; to ramify.

9. (v. i.) To divide into separate parts or subdivision.

10. (v. t.) To divide as into branches; to make subordinate division in.

11. (v. t.) To adorn with needlework representing branches, flowers, or twigs.