almond

See also: Almond

English

Almonds (nuts).

Etymology

Attested since about 1300 as Middle English almond, almaund; from Old French almande, amande, from Vulgar Latin *amendla, amandula, from Latin amygdala, from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē), of uncertain origin. Influenced by amandus and by many French and Spanish words of Arabic origin that began with the Arabic definite article al-.[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɑː(l).mənd/, /ˈɔː(l).mənd/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɑ(l).mənd/, /ˈæ(l).mənd/
  • (file)

Noun

almond (countable and uncountable, plural almonds)

  1. (countable) A type of tree nut.
  2. (countable) A small deciduous tree in family Rosaceae, Prunus dulcis, that produces predominantly sweet almonds.
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 3:
      In early March the almonds are in flower, delicately pink, and there are washes of bright daffodils beneath the orchard trees; you can see women gathering them for market.
  3. Other plants that produce almond-like nuts:
    1. Prunus dulcis var. amara, bitter almond, a variety that only produces bitter fruits
      Synonym: bitter almond
    2. Prunus japonica, flowering almond, an ornamental shrub in family Rosaceae
    3. Prunus andersonii, desert almond, a North American shrub in family Rosaceae
    4. Prunus fasciculata, desert range almond or wild almond, North American shrub in family Rosaceae
    5. Terminalia catappa, Indian almond or tropical almond, in family Combretaceae
    6. Brabejum stellatifolium, wild almond or bitter almond, in family Proteaceae
      Synonym: bitter almond
  4. (uncountable) The colour of the kernel of an almond without its shell and thin seed coat, a creamy off-white colour.
    almond colour:  
  5. (uncountable) The color of an almond still covered by its skin, a shade of brown.
    almond colour:  
  6. Anything shaped like an almond; specifically, (anatomy, archaic) a tonsil.
    • 1828, David Craigie, Elements of General and Pathological Anatomy
      The next set are shorter, and are more contracted or acuminated at their posterior end, where they are contiguous to the almonds or tonsils.

Translations

Adjective

almond (comparative more almond, superlative most almond)

  1. Brownish, resembling the colour of an almond nut.

Translations

See also

Further reading

References

  1. almond” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Anagrams


Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French almande.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /alˈmɔnd/, /alˈmau̯nd/, /alˈmand/, /alˈmɔu̯nd/

Noun

almond (plural almondes)

  1. An almond (tree nut)
    • c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 [Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11:
      Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke [] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt []
    • 1962 (quoting 1381 text), Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:
      dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. [] cook. glazed with a yellow substance; pome(s ~, sopes ~. [] 1381 Pegge Cook. Recipes p. 114: For to make Soupys dorry. Nym onyons [] Nym wyn [] toste wyte bred and do yt in dischis, and god Almande mylk.
  2. An almond tree (Prunus dulcis)
  3. An object that resembles an almond in physical form.

Derived terms

Descendants

References

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