medlar
pronunciation
How to pronounce medlar in British English:
UK [ˈmedlə(r)]
How to pronounce medlar in American English:
US [ˈmɛdlɚ]
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- Noun:
- small deciduous tree of southern Africa having edible fruit
- small deciduous Eurasian tree cultivated for its fruit that resemble crab apples
- South African globular fruit with brown leathery skin and sweet-acid pithy flesh
- crabapple-like fruit used for preserves
Word Origin
- 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."