ETYM Old Eng. aldir, aller, from AS. alr, aler, alor, akin to Dutch els, German erle, Icel. erlir, erli, Swed. al, Dan. elle, el, Latin alnus, and Eng. elm.
Any tree or shrub of the genus Alnus, in the birch family Betulaceae, found mainly in cooler parts of the northern hemisphere and characterized by toothed leaves and catkins.
Sitka alder A. sinuata and red alder A. rubra are common to W North America.
1. North temperate shrubs or trees having toothed leaves and conelike fruit; bark is used in tanning and dyeing and the rot-resistant wood; SYN. alder tree.
2. Wood of any of various alder trees; resistant to underwater rot; used for bridges etc.

(New Testament) A preacher and hermit and forerunner of Jesus (whom he baptized); was beheaded by Herod at the request of Salome.
(c. 12 BC-c. AD 27) In the New Testament, an itinerant preacher. After preparation in the wilderness, he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and baptized Jesus in the river Jordan. He was later executed by Herod Antipas at the request of Salome, who demanded that his head be brought to her on a platter
John was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth (a cousin of Jesus' mother), and born in Nazareth, Galilee. He and Jesus are often shown together as children

Saint circa 1412-1431 the Maid of Orleans French national heroine

St, (French Jeanne d’Arc) (1412-1431) French military leader. In 1429 she persuaded the future Charles VII that she had a divine mission to expel the occupying English from N France (see Hundred Years' War) and secure his coronation. She raised the siege of Orléans, defeated the English at Patay, north of Orléans, and Charles was crowned in Reims. However, she failed to take Paris and was captured in May 1430 by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English, and she was executed.
Joan was born at Domrémy in Lorraine, daughter of a prosperous farmer. She sought out Charles VII, then dauphin, at Chinon, NW France, and assembled a large army. After her success in relieving Orléans, she became known as the Maid of Orléans. She was captured when helping to raise the siege of Compiègne, and imprisoned for four months by the English. Found guilty of witchcraft and heresy by a tribunal of French ecclesiastics who supported the English, she was burned to death at the stake in Rouen 30 May 1431. In 1920 she was canonized.