greengage

American  

[green-geyj] / ˈgrinˌgeɪdʒ /

noun

1. any of several varieties of light-green plums, as Prunus insititia italica.

---

greengage British  

/ ˈɡriːnˌɡeɪdʒ /

noun

1. a cultivated variety of plum tree, Prunus domestica italica, with edible green plumlike fruits

2. the fruit of this tree

---

Etymology

Origin of greengage

1715–25; green + Gage, after Sir William Gage, 18th-century English botanist who introduced such varieties from France circa 1725

Example Sentences

He once wrote about asking for the local guava jelly in one of Trinidad's intellectual clubs, only to be told that they only had English greengage jam.

From Time Magazine Archive

Roll the paste out thin; put half of it on a baking sheet or tin, and spread equally over it apricot, greengage, or any preserve that may be preferred.

From The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-Giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts Worth Knowing, Etc., Etc. The Whole Comprising a Comprehensive Cyclopedia of Information for the Home by Gillette, F. L. (Fanny Lemira)

Those fruits like the peach, greengage, and mulberry, which almost melt in the mouth, contain a very large amount of soluble substances.

From The Art of Living in Australia ; together with three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen information by Mrs. H. Wicken by Muskett, Philip E.

At the farm of our nearest neighbors, the Edwardses, there were five greengage trees that bore delicious plums.

From A Busy Year at the Old Squire's by Stephens, C. A. (Charles Asbury)

And those syrups of fruit, the strawberry, the greengage!

From The Way of Ambition by Soper, J. H. Gardner