walnut
pronunciation
How to pronounce walnut in British English:
UK [ˈwɔːlnʌt]
How to pronounce walnut in American English:
US [ˈwɔːlnʌt]
-
- Noun:
- nut of any of various walnut trees having a wrinkled two-lobed seed with a hard shell
- hard dark-brown wood of any of various walnut trees; used especially for furniture and paneling
- any of various trees of the genus Juglans
Word Origin
- walnut
- walnut: [OE] A walnut is etymologically a ‘foreign nut’. Its name alludes to the fact that the nut was regarded by the Germanic peoples as an exotic import from southern Europe, land of Romans and Celts (their own native nut was the hazel). Prehistoric Germanic *walkhaz originally meant ‘Celtic’ (it was borrowed from Latin Volcae, the name of a Celtic people), but it soon broadened out to include anyone or anything foreign (including the Romans) within its scope.Its original Celtic connotations survive, however, in Welsh and Walloon (the name of a people of Gaulish origin), both of which go back to *walkhaz. English shares the formation walnut with its Germanic neighbours – German walnuss, Dutch walnoot, Swedish valnöt, and Danish valnød.=> walloon, welsh
- walnut (n.)
- Old English walhnutu "nut of the walnut tree," literally "foreign nut," from wealh "foreign" (see Welsh) + hnutu (see nut). Compare Old Norse valhnot, Middle Low German walnut, Middle Dutch walnote, Dutch walnoot, German Walnuss, So called because it was introduced from Gaul and Italy, distinguishing it from the native hazel nut. Compare the Late Latin name for it, nux Gallica, literally "Gaulish nut." Applied to the tree itself from 1600 (earlier walnut tree, c. 1400).
Example
- 1. But king among them all is the walnut .
- 2. Healthy omega-3 rich oils are olive oil , walnut oil and flaxseed oil .
- 3. All the cabinetry was custom made out of walnut , and aluminum doors were installed on the upper cabinetry .
- 4. Consumption skyrocketed three years later , thanks to a global walnut shortage and a record pecan harvest .
- 5. One well-known company has stopped promoting its walnut brownie mix , notes mr crain .