medlar

[med-ler]

noun

a small tree, Mespilus germanica, of the rose family, the fruit of which resembles a crab apple and is not edible until the early stages of decay.
any of certain related trees.
the fruit of any of these trees.

Origin of medlar

1325–75; Middle English medler < Anglo-French, equivalent to medle (Old French mesle the fruit < Latin mespilum < Greek méspilon) + -er -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for medlar

Historical Examples of medlar

The latter is a sort of medlar, which all hands pronounced delicious.
In the Wilds of Africa
W.H.G. Kingston
But indeed, Mr. Medlar, you should not sacrifice your constitution to your benevolence.
The Adventures of Roderick Random
Tobias Smollett
In the ornaments of the doorway we see the ammonite and medlar.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain
P. H. Ditchfield
The fruit may be eaten after it has begun to decay, as in the case of the Medlar.
Wayside and Woodland Trees
Edward Step
There are bushes again and a magnolia, and a Japanese medlar, and there is moss.
Cecilia
F. Marion Crawford

British Dictionary definitions for medlar

medlar

noun

a small Eurasian rosaceous tree, Mespilus germanica
the fruit of this tree, which resembles the crab apple and is not edible until it has begun to decay
any of several other rosaceous trees or their fruits

Word Origin for medlar

C14: from Old French medlier, from Latin mespilum medlar fruit, from Greek mespilon

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 medlar

"small fruit-bearing tree," mid-14c. (in reference to the fruit itself), from Old French medler, variant of mesple, from Latin mespila "fruit of the medlar," from Greek mespilion, a foreign word of unknown origin. The Old English name was openærs, literally "open-arse."