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filbert

[fil-bert]
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noun
  1. the thick-shelled, edible nut of certain cultivated varieties of hazel, especially of Corylus avellana, of Europe.
  2. a tree or shrub bearing such nuts.
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Origin of filbert

1250–1300; Middle English, short for filbert nut, so called because ripe by Aug. 22 (St. Philbert's day)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for filbert

filbert

noun
  1. any of several N temperate shrubs of the genus Corylus, esp C. maxima, that have edible rounded brown nuts: family Corylaceae
  2. Also called: hazelnut, cobnut the nut of any of these shrubs
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See also hazel (def. 1), hazel (def. 3)

Word Origin

C14: named after St Philbert, 7th-century Frankish abbot, because the nuts are ripe around his feast day, Aug 22
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for filbert

n.

"hazelnut," late 14c., from Anglo-French philber (late 13c.), from Norman dialect noix de filbert, in reference to St. Philbert, 7c. Frankish abbot, so called because the hazel nuts ripen near his feast day, Aug. 22 (Old Style). Weekley compares German Lambertsnuss "filbert," associated with St. Lambert (Sept. 17); also German Johannisbeere "red currant," associated with St. John's Day (June 24). The name is Old High German Filu-berht, literally "very bright."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper