BRANCH, a limb of a tree; hence any offshoot, e.g., of a river, railway, etc., of a deer's antlers, of a family or genealogical tree, or a subdivision or department, as in "a branch of learning" (Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw). The phrase, to destroy "root and branch," meaning to destroy utterly was made famous in 1641 by the so-called "Root and Branch" Bill (see