persimmon

[per-sim-uh n]

noun

any of several trees of the genus Diospyros, especially D. virginiana, of North America, bearing astringent, plumlike fruit that is sweet and edible when ripe, and D. kaki, of Japan and China, bearing soft, red or orange fruit.

the fruit itself.

Origin of persimmon

1605–15, Americanism; < Virginia Algonquian (E spelling) pessemmins, pichamins, pushemins, putchamins (unidentified initial element + reflex of Proto-Algonquian *-min- fruit, berry)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for persimmon

Contemporary Examples of persimmon

Sometimes the flowers multiplied in shades of persimmon or turned into two-dimensional appliqué.
Miuccia Prada and Emporio Armani: Milan Spring 2013 Collections
Robin Givhan
September 21, 2012
The beautiful garden is completely bare except for one persimmon tree that has no leaves.
One Woman's Formula for Change
Lynn Sherr
March 12, 2010

Historical Examples of persimmon

This field we overlooked through a fence-row of persimmon and wild plum.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
He soon discovered, of course, that the longest pole knocked the persimmon.
Life: Its True Genesis
R. W. Wright
The persimmon has only about ten days in which it will fall bud.
Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943
Various
I have been in the forest, under the persimmon and butternut trees.
The Citizen-Soldier
John Beatty
There was a fruity odour of persimmon and wild grape forever in the air.
Judith of the Cumberlands
Alice MacGowan

British Dictionary definitions for persimmon

persimmon

noun

any of several tropical trees of the genus Diospyros, typically having hard wood and large orange-red fruit: family Ebenaceae

the sweet fruit of any of these trees, which is edible when completely ripe

Word Origin for persimmon

C17: of Algonquian origin; related to Delaware pasĭmĕnan dried fruit

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 persimmon

1610s, from Powhatan (Algonquian) pasimenan "fruit dried artificially," from pasimeneu "he dries fruit," containing proto-Algonquian */-min-/ "fruit, berry."