quince
/kwɪns/ noun, proper noun
Forms quinces
- noun (countable) The pear-shaped fruit of a small tree of the rose family, Cydonia oblonga.
- noun (countable) The deciduous tree bearing such fruit, native to Asia.
- noun A soft yellow colour, like that of a quince.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English quynce, coince, a variant of coins, coin (“quince”), from Old French cooing (modern coing), from Late Latin cotōneum, from Latin mālum cotōneum, a variant of mālum Cydonium (“Cydonian apple”), translating Ancient Greek μηλοκυδώνιον (mēlokudṓnion).
Clipping of quinceañera.
Probably a topographic surname for someone who lived by a quince tree or a metonymic occupational surname for a grower or seller of quinces.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The fruit of a shrub (Cydonia vulgaris) belonging to the same tribe as the apple. It somewhat resembles an apple, but differs in having many seeds in each carpel. It has hard flesh of high flavor, but very acid, and is largely used for marmalade, jelly, and preserves.
- noun a quince tree or shrub. Japan quince (Bot.), an Eastern Asiatic shrub (Cydonia, formerly Pyrus, Japonica) and its very fragrant but inedible fruit. The shrub has very showy flowers, usually red, but sometimes pink or white, and is much grown for ornament.
Etymology [Prob. a pl. from OE. quyne, coin, OF. coin, cooin, F. coing, from L. Cydonius a quince tree, as adj., Cydonian, Gr. Quiddany.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “quince”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details