Lewis & Short

ăbĭēs, ĕtis (abietis, abiete, trisyllabic in poet., Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44; Verg. A. 2, 16 al.; so, abietibus, quadrisyl. sometimes, as Verg. A. 9, 674), f. [etym. uncer., perh. akin to ἀλδαίνω; cf. ἐλάτη = pinus],

  1. I. the silver-fir: Pinus picea, Linn.: ἐλάτη, the tree as well as the wood of it, Plin. 16, 10, 19, § 48; Pall. 12, 15, 1: abies consternitur alta, Enn. ap. Macr. 6, 2 (Ann. v. 195 Vahl.): crispa, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 117 ib.): enodis, Ov. M. 10. 94. In Verg., on account of its dark foliage, called nigra: nigrā abiete, A. 3, 599: abietibus patriis aequi juvenes, tall as their native firs, id. ib. 9, 674 (imitation of Hom. ll. 5, 560: ἐλάτῃσιν ἐοικότες ὑψηλῇσιν).
  2. II. Poet., meton. (cf. Quint. 8, 6, 20), like the Greek ἐλάτη, any thing made of fir.
      1. 1. = epistula, a letter (written on a tablet of fir), Plaut. Pers. 2, 2, 66 (cf. Engl. book, i. e. beech).
      2. 2. = navis, a ship, Verg. G. 2, 68; id. A. 8, 91; cf. id. ib. 5, 663.
      3. 3. = hasta, a lance, Verg. A. 11, 667.