medlar

Definition

Mespilus germanica, common medlar (now often Crataegus germanica).

Etymology

From Middle English medler, medeler, from Old French medler, meslier, from medle, mesdle (“medlar fruit”), from Latin mespilum, from Ancient Greek μέσπιλον (méspilon). Related to the rare mesple, via Proto-West Germanic *mespilā. Displaced Old English openærs (“open-arse”) (and similar names, from anatomical comparison).

Example Sentences

• "I was once before him for getting a wench with child....but I was fain to forswear it; they would else have married me to the rotten medlar."