medlar
[med-ler]
- 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.
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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 medlars
Historical Examples
Then let us leave off hanging ourselves and our children from its branches like medlars.
Fantasia of the UnconsciousD. H. Lawrence
Each of them carried some of the flesh of the kids, a dozen medlars, and a melon.
Hair-Breadth EscapesH.C. Adams
There are quinces and medlars and plums with plenty of fruit, and Morello cherries; but few apples.
More Letters of Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
If kept till they are soft, in the same way as medlars, they have an agreeable acid flavour.
Woodland GleaningsCharles Tilt
In every hedge we passed were medlars, plumbs, cherries, and maples with vines trained to them.
medlar
- 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
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Word Origin
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 medlars
medlar
n.
"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."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
MEDLARS
- Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (computerized index system of the US National Library of Medicine)
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.